E-Malt.com News article: Germany: Less beer drunk at the Oktoberfest edition of 2005

In spite of having an extra day to celebrate, revellers drank less of Germany's favorite tipple at this year's Munich Oktoberfest tribute to beer which ended on October 4 according to Reuters.

More than 6 million visitors attended Munich's 172nd annual Oktoberfest, setting a new record that somewhat made up for the fact that beer consumption was down this year, organisers said on October 4 what is billed as the world's biggest beer party. Analysts said record prices of more than $8 (about R51) per one-litre stein of beer contributed to making this year's fest-goers somewhat more abstemious at the 14 huge tents. Food consumption, meanwhile, was up this year.

Fewer than 6 million litres were consumed, compared to the average of one litre per visitor in past years.

Half a million grilled chickens and local fare such as pan-fried meat, sausages, and pfannakuacha - Bavarian dialect for a jam-filled pancake -helped the beer go down.

The festival had got under way September 18 with the traditional ceremonial tapping of the first barrel of beer in the Schottenhammel tent by the Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude. With three hits, the beer began to flow and the mayor was able to cry the time-honoured words "Ozapft is!" ("It is tapped!").

Twelve shots rang out to indicate to the other beer tents that beer may be served, while Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber quaffed the first litre.

Some 6 million litres of beer, enough to fill around six Olympic-sized swimming pools -- were downed by the 6.1 million visitors to the festival in the Bavarian capital. That was about 100,000 litres below the 6.1 million litres in 2004.

The 172nd edition of the event was extended beyond the usual 16 days to 17 this year because Monday is the German Unification Day holiday. But unseasonably cool weather and strict limits on the music volume before 6 p.m. kept consumption down.Local tabloid newspapers criticized organizers for dampening the noise of the famous oom-pah brass bands, however officials said it helped cut the drunken violence seen in previous years.

"We never promised anyone a giant techno disco here," said Munich mayor Christian Ude."I don't know how anyone could call this a 'snore fest' or a 'whisper fest'," Ude added, referring to the tabloid criticism.Police reported a drop in assaults, with 248 this year compared to 351 last year. The number of criminal acts fell to 1,304 from 1,690 in 2004. There were 22 incidents of sexual coercion, down one, but three rapes, in increase from two.

"When the music volume is lower people tend to drink a bit less but instead eat more," said Gabriele Weishaeupl, head of the Munich tourism office that runs Oktoberfest. The number of cows slaughtered rose to 95 from 89 a year ago.The origins of the Oktoberfest date back to 1810 when a lavish five-day celebration was held all over Munich to mark the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig.

Since then it has evolved into an annual celebration of excess, with tens of thousands gorging on sausage and pretzels, swaying to oom-pah bands and tippling till they topple.There were 4,000 items left behind in beer tents this year, including a set of dentures, two crutches and one wedding ring.

Visitors to Munich's Oktoberfest paused briefly on September 26 to mark the 25th anniversary of a mystery-shrouded neo-Nazi bombing that killed 13 fest-goers and injured 215.

Survivors of the blast joined Mayor Ude in solemn ceremonies at the entrance to the fair. Ude placed a wreath at the site of the bombing at midday. A candlelight vigil was planned in the centre of Munich Monday evening. A prayer service was held last week.

The commemorations come amidst lingering criticism of police handling of the investigation.

A self-avowed neo-Nazi identified as Gundolf Koehler set off 1.4 kilogrammes of TNT in a litter bin at the entrance to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds on 26 September 1980.

Koehler, who died in the blast, allegedly was distraught over having failed a university geology exam, blaming "Jewish academics".

But the case was never satisfactorily solved, and critics claim police overlooked evidence of a broad conspiracy. Eyewitnesses insisted Koehler had been talking furtively to several other persons immediately before the explosion.

The bombing was also linked at the time to the hotly contested campaign for the 1980 general election in West Germany which saw Munich-based conservative Bavarian strongman Franz Josef Strauss accuse incumbent Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of being soft on leftist urban guerrilla terrorists. Strauss lost the election on October 5.

In the wake of the bombing, Oktoberfest activities were suspended for a day. A memorial plaque now marks the spot. No public litter bins are located anywhere on the fairgrounds.

04 October, 2005