Opting for a Birthday at Oktoberfest: Germany Trip Part One
- Katie Johnson
- Oct 2, 2024
- 9 min read
Bryan's 30th birthday is October 2nd and I knew I had to make this year the best birthday yet, so I asked him where he wanted to go for the big 3-0. He replied with "Oktoberfest!" So here's the ten-day trip I put together to give B the biggest Oktoberfest celebration out there!
Saturday, September 21: Travel to Munich
Unlike most of our trips that start before the sun rises, this time around our direct flight to Nuremberg, Germany was at 2:25 pm. This meant we got an adequate nights rest and were ready to take on a day of traveling!
Nuremberg Airport
Immediately upon landing in Nuremberg, we headed to the train station to catch our train down to Munich. Flying directly into Munich was extremely pricy, so we opted for direct flights to Nuremberg, which we visited back in January alongside our trip to Prague, Czech Republic. With the ease of travel to Nuremberg, we have cashed in on the cheaper flights there before hitting our main destination in other major cities!
Nürnberg Hbf ➡ München Hbf
Now before you say anything, we did eat McDonalds for dinner. We made it to the main train station before our departure time with only Burger King, KFC and McDonalds as food options...so we worked with what was available. We felt like we were back in America for a little while there. Bryan was happy to order waffle fries; it was a "small taste of Chick-fil-A," as he put it!
After enjoying our classic American meal, we hopped on a high-speed train that took us from Nuremberg to Munich in an hour and fifteen minutes for $16 a person! Not too shabby!
B&B HOTEL München-Messe
This first day may have been all about getting to Munich, but it was a nice, slow day of travel! We made it to our hotel at 9:30 pm and were ready for a good night's rest before we hit the ground running tomorrow!
Sunday, Sept 22: Exploring Munich
Sunday morning began early with a stop in Marienplatz, the main plaza of Munich! We ran into a pop-up shop for Oktoberfest and found a pin for our visit before realizing our tummies were grumbling.
Rischart Café am Marienplatz
Needing a bite to eat before our walking tour, we got in line at Rischart Cafe. Bumping shoulders with everyone else, we left with cappuccinos, a pretzel filled with cream cheese and chives, and an apple roll! I will say, my pretzel was the winning breakfast item and it encompassed German food fully!
Marienplatz & New Town Hall: Neues Rathaus
Then it was time for our free walking tour, where we met Patrick, our guide! Born in New Zealand, Patrick married a German lady and moved to Munich years ago and now enjoys sharing his second home with fellow travelers!
Patrick began our tour at the Neues Rathaus, where we watched the clockwork show. The Glockenspiel is based on ancient times when the Black Plague ran rampant in cities and people had to go into lockdown. Then, when the Royal Family decided it was safe again, they would send dancers, called Schäfflertanz, to perform in the streets and draw out the town's citizens. The Glockenspiel tells this exact story!
Cathedral of St. Peter
Our tour continued to the Cathedral of St. Peter, where we learned how Munich got its name. This location has been home to a church since the earliest times of organized civilizations. When the ancient Bavarian king came through, he named the town München, since it was "home of the monks."
Maibaum Viktualienmarkt
Our next stop was the food market, Viktualienmarkt, known for its fresh produce, butchers, and, more recently, cheaper food stalls. In the middle of the market is a huge Maibaum (maypole.) Patrick taught us that each Bavarian town has a maypole in the center of the town and is decorated to represent the town's festivals and call to fame. Every three years, the pole must be replaced and redecorated. While it is being built, neighboring towns will attempt to steal the giant tree trunk and hold it captive in trade for beer! It's now become a huge tradition and game to steal other towns' Maibaums!
Hofbräuhaus München
Our next stop was the O.G. beer house: Hofbräuhaus München. Opened in 1589 by the Bavarian Duke Wilhelm V, the Hofbräuhaus was built to supply the Bavarian court with beer. Over the decades, the beer house was opened to all citizens and has become one of the top beer companies in Munich!
We also learned that Munich has had Beer Purity Laws since forever. These laws require that all beer made in Munich consist of only four ingredients: malt, hops, yeast and water.
Alter Hof
Speaking of those royal families who wanted to keep the good beer to themselves: those people lived in the Alter Hof, a palace for the royal family of Munich. I guess it helped to live right down the street from the Hofbräuhaus!
Parade of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries 2024
When passing by the Max Joseph Platz Opera House, we got to see part of the Oktoberfest Parade recognizing city big-wigs and the Big 6 Munich Brewery owners. This parade showcased traditional costumes from over the ages and had many bands playing traditional music.
I even caught a little bit of the parade on camera:
Drückebergergasse
As we weaved our way through the parade crowds, we made it to the Drückebergergasse, known as "resistance alley." During WWII, a giant Nazi statue stood in the middle of the upcoming plaza. Nazis were stationed in the plaza and Hitler required all passserbys to salute the Nazi party and the statue. As a way to combat this requirement, citizens who disagreed with the Nazi party started taking a shortcut through this alley. Eventually, spies staked out in the alley and captured Munich citizens who were using this area to avoid saluting.
After WWII, the city lined this alleyway with gold-plated bricks as a remembrance to all those who went "missing" during this dark time of history.
Feldherrnhalle
This is the plaza where Hitler's infamous statue stood. American troops tore down the statue when they took the city at the end of WWII. The city eventually looked for another statue to display in this monumental archway and decided on this nameless statue.
A fun fact about that nameless statue in the middle of Munich's square:
American Confederate soldiers commissioned this statue to celebrate their success in the war. Unfortunately for them, they lost the Civil War, so nobody paid the balance on the statue and it was never picked up. Since it was a generic enough statue, Munich decided to repurpose that statue here in the Feldherrnhalle! It's kind of interesting to learn that a piece of (what could have been) American history sits in the center of Munich!
Theatine Church: Theatinerkirche
Next up, another church. Honestly, I don't remember anything special about this church. It was pretty. NEXT.
Frauenkirche
Another church. But this one had a cool story:
According to legend, in 1468 architect Jorg von Halspach wanted to build a new cathedral in Munich but lacked funding. He ended up making a deal with the Devil: the Devil would provide the funds on the condition that it be a "celebration of darkness," with no windows.
When the building was complete, von Helpach led the Devil inside to survey his work. Although there was light, there seemed to be no windows, and the devil was satisfied. But then when he walked further into the entryway, the columns that had been blocking the view of the windows opened up and, in his fury at being tricked, he stomped his foot and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. That footprint can still be seen today in the marble floor right side the entryway of the Frauenkirche church.
You can see Bryan standing in the Devil's footprint below!
Takumi München
After our tour, Bryan and I were eager for some grub! We stuck behind and asked our guide, Patrick, for his lunch recommendation; he mentioned during the tour that Munich is known for its international cuisine. He said if we were traveling around Bavaria later in our trip, then we should save our traditional German meals for outside the city and instead enjoy the tastes of the world here- and that's exactly what we did!
His first recommendation was a ramen restaurant, Takumi München, and he didn't have to say anything more! Bryan and I ordered goyza to share and then the creamy white tantan and the yuzu shio ramen. Both were amazing, but my yuzu ramen was to die for! This food fed our hearts just as much as it did our stomachs!
We then walked around and visited various shops before stumbling upon a local artist. We timed it right: this guy had his work on display and was hard at work creating more watercolors on the spot! Now we have more pieces to add to our guest room wall!
St. Michael München
As we continued to wander, we ran into St. Michael's Cathedral, another church our guide had said we should visit. Again, it was an impressive church. After seeing so many today, they kind of all blend together!
Augustiner-Keller
By this point, Bryan was ready to dive into the Oktoberfest festivities! We headed to Augustiner- Keller, where we sat under the chestnut trees and enjoyed a shared meal and a few beers.
Earlier in the day, we learned that it used to be illegal to brew beer in the summer. Instead, they had to prep the year's supply over the winter and into spring so they would have enough to last all summer. To preserve the beer, they dug underground cellars and planted chestnut trees over them. The tree roots grew shallow and provided structure for the cellar roofs while the leaves provided shade to keep the cellars cool for beer storage. This left them with giant shaded areas next to their breweries- thus creating the first beer gardens!
Another fun fact: Oktoberfest started as a beginning of fall celebration to use up the previous year's beer before brewing fresh stuff for the following summer. This is why Oktoberfest beers have a much stronger alcohol content at 6%- it's because it's been fermenting for almost a year by the time it's drank!
Bryan said these late-afternoon drinks were to "prime our gut for tomorrow!"
Monday, Sept 23: Oktoberfest
And today is the day. The day Bryan has been waiting for! We are off to Oktoberfest!
Theresienwiese
Oktoberfest takes place at Theresienwiese, a giant fairground reserved for the annual beer festival! So we hopped on the train and made our way to Theresienwiese!
Café Konditorei Herrmann
Bryan and I were also surprised when Meghan and Peyton were able to book a last-minute flight and join us for Oktoberfest! Peyton has been at sea for the last 4.5 months and his deployment kept getting extended. He arrived just in time to hop on a flight to Munich!
We met Meghan and Peyton right outside of the Theresienwiese for coffee and a quick bite before starting our day of drinking!
Paulaner Brewery Marquee: Armbrustschützenzelt
The first tent we walked by was the Paulaner tent, Armbrustschützenzelt. This was the exact brewery that we enjoyed at Rota's Oktoberfest event last year! We are in the right place!
Hofbräu Festzelt
Our first tent of the day was the Hofbräu Festzelt tent! You may recognize that this is the same beer company that was started by the royal family in Munich's city center. When we entered the tent, we were faced with tons of empty tables: I guess the crowds weren't down to drink at 10:30 am.
By the time we had our first beer, the place was hoppin! Music was playing, we were making friends and both Bryan and Peyton had purchased a traditional German hat to complete their outfits! The Lederhosen was loosening up (apparently leather doesn't stretch much) and the Dirndls were feeling great!
As we left our first tent, the guys decided their look wasn't complete without feathers in their caps, so we stopped at one of the many booths to buy some additional decorations for their hats! Bryan decided he was going to collect pins at each tent he drank at... who knew this guy was so into fashion?!
Ochsenbraterei Oktoberfest München
Then we were off to another tent to keep the party going! This time, we judged the tents by their exterior and the boys chose the tent with the giant rotating pig over a fire. Inside we found a table, ordered some beers and continued the fun times!
We ended up meeting Dylan, an engineer from Connecticut who joined us for awhile! The great thing about Oktoberfest is the chance to meet new friends; Bryan would argue the best part is all the beer though!
Augustiner Bräu Festival Hal
By the third tent, things were picking up! Bryan and Peyton were enjoying their buzz and dancing in the streets! We were meeting all kinds of new friends- some from Texas and Italy- and dancing to the music.
By the fourth tent, I stopped taking pictures. I was having too good of a time to remember to capture the moment! Things started to slow down for our group and it was time to head back to the hotel to crash and burn. But don't worry, some of our good times were caught on film!
When I say crash and burn, I mean it. The birthday boy couldn't even make it off the train before he was snoring! Thank goodness I knew how to get back to our hotel!
These first two days in Munich were great, but we still have seven days left of our southern Germany trip, so stay tuned!
--Katie
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