Did You Know: Oktoberfest

Did you know? — By Goran on 2011/10/19 3:51 AM

Did you know that Oktoberfest started as a wedding celebration?

On 12th October 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.

The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event.

Horse races in the presence of the Royal Family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria, and the decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.

Nowdays the Oktoberfest is known as the Largest Volksfest (People’s Fair) in the World. Just take a look at this fascinating numbers from last year:

Oktoberfest figures (2010)

  • Area: 0.42 km2 (103.78 acres)
  • Seats in the festival halls: approx. 100,000
  • Visitors: 6.4 million
  • Beer: appr. 7,100,000 litres (151,200 litres non-alcoholic)
  • Wine: 89,259 liters
  • Sparkling wine: 37,733 litres
  • Coffee and tea: 245,335 litres
  • Water and lemonade: 1,028,522 ½ litres
  • Chicken: 505,901 units
  • Pork sausages: 119,302 pairs
  • Fish: 40,850 kg
  • Pork knuckles (haxen): 69,293 units
  • Oxen: 119 units
  • Expenditure of electricity: 2.96 million kWh (as much as 14% of Munich’s daily requirements or as much as a four person family will need in 52 years and 4 months)
  • Expenditure of gas: about 198,489 m3
  • Expenditure of water: about 107,489 m3 (as much as 27% of Munich’s daily requirements )
  • Waste: 678 t (2004)
  • Toilets: about 980 seats, more than 878 meters of urinals and 17 for disabled persons
  • Phone booths: 83, also for international credit cards
  • Lost property: about 4000 items, among them 260 pairs of glasses, 200 mobile phones, wedding rings, and even 500 crutches.

    • Via Wikipedia

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