Posts Tagged ‘Germany’

Next Wednesday the barrel gets tapped and the festivities begin for the 174th Oktoberfest in Munich Theresienwiese festival grounds. This years fest will see over 6 million people visit the 42 hectare park over its 12 days. That’s half a million people a day!. In that time 6 million litres of beer, (30% of Munich’s annual consumption) quarter of a million sausages, 100 oxen, and half a million roast chickens will be served by over 1600 waitresses. The site has 1800 toilets and seating for over 100,000 people.   12000 people are employed during the festival including cleaners, ride operators, food vendors, security and tent staff. Last year over 200,000 mugs were retrieved by security guards from would be thieves, this year there will be a 50 Euro fine to crack down on people pinching the mugs. Plenty are on sale for souvenirs and all at pretty reasonable prices.

The Oktoberfest opens its gates on the 22nd – only 2 weeks away. So we continue or feature stories, today we talk about hte Hippodrom. The Hippodrom is one of the more elaborate of the huge Oktoberfest tents which are erected each year for the annual OkKtoberfest. The hippodrom dates back to 1902 and has been at Oktoberfest ever since serving the fineset Bavarian, veal sausages, pretzels and famous Fraziskaner Wheat Beer. 4200 people are seated each of the 4 daily sittings, the Bavarian Brunch, Lunchtime and the Happy Hippo Hour  the evening sitting which books out months before the event.  This year’s Oktoberfest is the 174th and will see over 6 million visitors through the gates during its 2 weeks of celebration from the 22nd of September.

A few weeks ago we ran a story about beer in vending machines in Japan, well heres another great idea beer at work. The German Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg has beer available in their canteens throughout the factory. Workers love nothing more than relaxing at lunchtime with a nice cold beer and a currywurst sausage.  Beer is drunk responsibly and is a valued part of the German culture and must be one of the reasons Volkswagen make some of the worlds best quality and exciting vehicles.  The currywurst is one of Germany’s best and at the Wolfsberg plant where they manufacture the Golf over 1.5 million of these delicious sausages are made each year. The good news is any visitors to the theme park / factory can stop in for a beer and currywurst it is well worth the short diversion between Berlin and Amsterdam.

If you have been a regular reader of Hoppsy you will have noticed we are getting very excited about Oktoberfest the world’s biggest beer party and the tapping of the first barrel is only one month away. The Oktoberfest is not only about beer drinking it is infact a family event with heaps to do for people of all ages. There are some of the worlds most amazing carnival rides, food, arcade sideshows even a flea circus. One of Europe’s biggest ferris wheels is on hand for spectacular views and of course the huge beer tents. The event is one big happy festival with many people donning their traditional Bavarian dress for the occasion. Whether you drink beer or are young or old you will certainly enjoy your time at Munich’s favorite festival.

Becks is one of the more popular of the German Beers and is made under license in several countries around the world including Australia, Namibia, Serbia, China, Turkey and Romania. The beer is a nice crisp pilsner and has been brewed since 1873. The actual flavor we have today dates back to 1842 when the German purity laws introduced new brewing processes. Beck’s originated in Bremen which is in the North West regions of Germany on the river Weser and is still brewed there today. The easy transportation from the river made this beer very easy to ship to other regions. The green bottle has a distinctive label with shield and red key, this key is actually a mirror image of the town’s coat of arms.

All is nearly in readiness for the 174th Oktoberfest, and it is only 50 days away. Over the next 50 days Hoppsy will have plenty of tips for any of our readers who are lucky enough to be joining estimated 6 million people enjoying the celebrations in Munich. Bookings for the huge tents are filling fast so there’s no time to waste- you need to get your bookings underway as if you haven’t got a seat it isn’t too easy to find a beer. Entry to the festival and all the tents are free you just need to buy your food and drink along the way.

Read the rest of this entry »