Germany edition

Oktoberfest

The following articles have been tagged with "Oktoberfest":

Fresh revelations hit beleaguered president

National: 15 Jan 12
Further revelations appeared about beleaguered President Christian Wulff this weekend, with Der Spiegel reporting that a film producer treated him to a hotel upgrade during Oktoberfest. READ »

Armed neo-Nazi scene embraces violence

Society: 28 Nov 11
The rise of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) has focused attention on Germany's neo-Nazi scene, which experts say includes violent militants with professional weapons training. Ben Knight reports. READ »

Germany's oddest tourist attractions

Travel: 17 Nov 11
Had your fill of Oktoberfest? Unimpressed by the Reeperbahn? The Local List counts down Germany's oddest tourist attractions. READ »

Bavarian beer hall tries to seduce Berlin

Society: 9 Nov 11
What promises to be the biggest beer hall in Europe has opened in Berlin, prompting a culture clash by bringing Bavarian boozing culture to the Prussian-accented German capital, as Moises Mendoza discovered. READ »

Once Oktoberfest ends, the bras' owners must be found

Society: 3 Oct 11
As giant beer glasses are stored away for next year and tents taken down, Oktoberfest officials are left trying to trace the owners of lost items from bras to this year a live giant grasshopper. READ »

Oktoberfest comes to a jolly, boozy end

Society: 3 Oct 11
Beer halls in Munich were packed with thousands of revellers on Monday as the year’s rollicking 178th Oktoberfest came to a conclusion. READ »

Oktoberfest visitor numbers stable but stealing more glasses

Society: 25 Sep 11
Halfway through the Oktoberfest, organisers say the visitor numbers are the same as last year at a steady 3.5 million people for the first week. READ »

Beer inspectors allege Oktoberfest 'Maß' fraud

Society: 22 Sep 11
A organization fighting stingy beer pouring has declared widespread fraud is occurring at Munich’s Oktoberfest, as visitors aren’t getting as much amber nectar as they’ve paid for in the festival's huge 1-litre mugs. READ »

Oktoberfest buzzes with booze and merriment

Society: 21 Sep 11
Munich's 178th Oktoberfest is officially in full swing. Beer, dirndls, lederhosen and lots of sausage and pretzels will dominate the Bavarian capital for over a fortnight. READ »

Oktoberfest kicks off

Society: 17 Sep 11
With the traditional shout of "O'zapft is," or "It's tapped," the Munich Oktoberfest got going on Saturday for the 178th time. Some six million people are expected, and they'll be paying more for the beer this time. READ »

The Local's guide to Oktoberfest

Lifestyle: 15 Sep 11
Looking to head to Munich this year for Oktoberfest? The Local has put together a guide to the world’s biggest beer bash that might get you out of Bavaria alive. READ »

What's on in Germany: September 15 - 21

Lifestyle: 15 Sep 11
This Week's Highlights: Renaissance portraits in Berlin, an autumn festival in Frankfurt, and Oktoberfest parades in Munich. READ »

Oktoberfest – the main tents

Lifestyle: 13 Sep 11
The Local's Oktoberfest guide tours the best of the big tents. READ »

Oktoberfest – the traditions

Lifestyle: 13 Sep 11
The Local's Oktoberfest guide delves into the leathery world of Bavarian tradition. READ »

Oktoberfest – the beer

Lifestyle: 13 Sep 11
The Local's Oktoberfest guide chugs some of the Bavarian tipple fueling this whole shindig. READ »

Oktoberfest – the food

Lifestyle: 13 Sep 11
The Local's Oktoberfest guide tucks into some the finer victuals on offer. READ »

What's on in Germany: September 8 - 14

Lifestyle: 8 Sep 11
This Week's Highlights: Breakdancing in Hamburg, an art weekend in Munich, and a music festival sets up at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport. READ »

Neo-Nazi shoots self as police find his dead son

Society: 4 Aug 11
Authorities are conducting an autopsy on the son of a known neo-Nazi after his body was found with a gunshot wound to the head – next to his father who shot himself as the police approached the scene. READ »

What's on in Germany: June 30 - July 6

Lifestyle: 30 Jun 11
This Week's Highlights: A castle festival in Frankfurt, Schlager fans descend on Hamburg and Munich throws an Oktoberfest party for Americans. READ »

Oktoberfest beer prices to crack €9-mark

Society: 7 Jun 11
A litre of beer will for the first time top €9 at this year’s Oktoberfest, continuing a steady march upward in prices at the legendary Munich festival, the city announced on Tuesday. READ »

Berlin braces for surges in May Day violence

Society: 28 Apr 11
The anarchist uproar following the eviction of a Berlin squat in January could mean the city faces more violence than usual during this year’s May Day. Exberliner's Anne-Lena Mösken spoke to a member of the leftist scene. READ »

What's on in Germany: March 10 - 16

Lifestyle: 10 Mar 11
This week's highlights: Poetry in Berlin, apple wine in Frankfurt, Iranian opera in Cologne, and Munich hosts one of the biggest St. Patrick's Day parties on the continent. READ »

Beer sales continue their gradual slide

Business & Money: 27 Jan 11
Beer sales continued their slow decline in Germany last year, dropping another 2.9 percent with the average person drinking a sip or two over 100 litres of the liquid gold. READ »

Alternative city break destinations

Travel: 10 Jan 11
Swap tradition for adventure with cheap flights to Germany on cheapflug.de, and sample some of its lesser known cities. Free venues, year-round cultural festivals, and must-see sights are but a few of the numerous offerings that await the intrepid traveller. READ »

2010: The year in review

National: 29 Dec 10
As 2011 prepares to kick off, The Local takes a look back at some of the stories that caught our attention during the past year in Germany. READ »

Germany's holiday food favourites

Society: 23 Dec 10
Invited to a German Christmas dinner and don’t know what to expect? Forget about Turkey with cranberry sauce, say goodbye to mince pies and Christmas pudding and embrace these Teutonic holiday specialities. READ »

European delivery: Buying German luxury cars at the source

Lifestyle: 29 Oct 10
What German car fan hasn’t fantasized about shifting into high gear on the autobahn behind the wheel of a BMW, Porsche, Audi, or Mercedes? European delivery schemes offer perks to make a new car and unique vacation affordable. READ »

Munich woman vanishes after Oktoberfest

Society: 7 Oct 10
A 24-year-old Munich woman told friends she planned to take a taxi home after visiting Oktoberfest last Friday, but she never made it home. Sabine P. has vanished without a trace, police in the Bavarian capital said this week. READ »

What's on in Germany: October 7 - 13

Lifestyle: 7 Oct 10
This Week's Highlights: Urban art in Berlin, books take centre stage in Frankfurt, and a Marc Chagall exhibition opens in Hamburg. READ »

End to Oktoberfest marred by crowd chaos

Society: 4 Oct 10
Oktoberfest shuts off its taps on Monday evening after Munich's beer festival welcomed record numbers of visitors to its 200th anniversary celebration. But along with the crowds came chaos this weekend. READ »

Getting through a smoke-free Oktoberfest

Lifestyle: 28 Sep 10
The 200th anniversary Oktoberfest is the first to be completely smoke-free, thanks to Bavaria's new no exceptions smoking ban and solidarity among the beer-tent landlords. Ben Knight found out how the locals are coping. READ »

Remembering the Oktoberfest of yore

Lifestyle: 24 Sep 10
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest this year, organisers have created a historical tribute to the festivals of yore. Ben Knight slipped on his lederhosen for a tour of the nostalgia zone. READ »

Bavarian mass transit drivers strike

National: 24 Sep 10
Mass transit workers in the Bavarian cities of Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg went on strike early Friday morning in an ongoing wage dispute. Munich will suffer the most, with thousands of tourists in town for Oktoberfest. READ »

Beer mug brawling spikes at 200th anniversary Oktoberfest

Society: 24 Sep 10
This year’s 200th anniversary Oktoberfest has proved to be rowdier than previous years, officials said this week, citing a jump in the use of the festival’s famous large beer mugs as weapons. READ »

Munich breweries reap Oktoberfest PR bonanza

Society: 21 Sep 10
Though rivers of beer are consumed each year at Oktoberfest, it's just a fraction of Munich breweries' overall sales. For them the festival is not just tradition, it's also a massive public relations event fuelling their international business. READ »

Barfing Oktoberfest drunks face taxi cleanup fees

Society: 20 Sep 10
Revellers who drunkenly vomit in taxis must cough up the cleanup costs, according to an Oktoberfest-related court decision published by a Munich district court on Monday. READ »

Mainz top table for first time ever

Sport: 19 Sep 10
Dark horses Mainz went top of the Bundesliga on Saturday after they shocked Champions League side Werder Bremen 2-0, while champions Bayern Munich were held to a goalless draw by Cologne. READ »

Oktoberfest kicks off

Society: 18 Sep 10
The Munich beer festival got under way Saturday with millions of visitors from around the world expected to raise a glass or two to celebrate the event's 200th birthday over the next 17 days. READ »

Oktoberfest starts 200th jubilee with historic party

Society: 17 Sep 10
One day before the official start of Munich’s 200th anniversary Oktoberfest celebrations, a special historical area tapped its kegs on Friday, treating guests to a nostalgic taste of the famous Bavarian beer bash. READ »

Munich brothel cries foul over Oktoberfest taxi driver bribes

Society: 16 Sep 10
Upscale Munich brothel Pascha complained this week that its competitors are stifling business during the lucrative Oktoberfest season by paying taxi drivers large sums to bring customers to their establishments instead. READ »

Oktoberfest all over the world

Lifestyle: 13 Sep 10
Beer in Palestine? Oompah music in Ho Chi Minh City? With Munich’s legendary beer bash Oktoberfest about to celebrate its 200th anniversary, Ben Knight takes a look at the impact of Bavaria’s cultural juggernaut around the world. READ »

Drinking culture: Oktoberfest gets odour-eating bacteria

Society: 8 Sep 10
A smoking ban at Oktoberfest means visitors to Munich's beer bash won't leave smelling like an ashtray, but what about the stink of sweat, roasted chicken and stale alcohol? One businessman has the answer: an odour-eating bacteria. READ »

What's on in Germany: August 12 - 18

Lifestyle: 12 Aug 10
This Week's Highlights: Horse racing in the Rhineland, classical music at the Hamburg zoo and fireworks over the Bodensee. READ »

Oktoberfest to enforce strict smoking ban

Society: 19 Jul 10
The proprietors of tents at Munich’s world-famous beer festival Oktoberfest have agreed to implement Bavaria’s strict new smoking ban this year despite having a grace period till 2011. READ »

Oktoberfest goes back to the roots for 200th anniversary

Society: 15 Jul 10
Organisers of Oktoberfest have announced that Munich's legendary beer festival will go back to its roots for its 200th anniversary this autumn. READ »

Social Democrats push for national smoking ban

National: 6 Jul 10
The push for a tough, national smoking ban in Germany has gained momentum with the opposition Social Democrats calling on Tuesday for all bars and restaurants to become smoke-free. READ »

Bavarians approve stricter smoking ban

National: 5 Jul 10
The Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich is to become smoke-free after voters in a referendum Sunday in the southern German state of Bavaria opted for a total smoking ban. READ »

Bavaria votes on total smoking ban

Society: 4 Jul 10
The state of Bavaria is holding a referendum on Sunday to decide whether to impose a complete ban on smoking in all restaurants and bars. It would be the strictest ban in Germany. READ »

Beyond Oktoberfest: A guide to German beer and wine festivals

Travel: 29 Jun 10
Everyone knows Oktoberfest, but Germany has plenty of other great beer and wine festivals. The website hostelbookers.com tells you where to get your drink on and lay your boozy head. READ »

Oktoberfest hikes beer prices for 200th anniversary

Society: 26 May 10
Germany's world-famous beer festival Oktoberfest said Wednesday that it has upped the price for its huge mugs of amber nectar to almost €9 for this year's 200th anniversary event. READ »

Brett Macdonald: An international education

Lifestyle: 31 Mar 10
The Local's series "Making it in Germany" presents Brett Macdonald, a Canadian teacher at an international school in Munich. READ »

Munich's answer to Lent: stronger beer

Lifestyle: 26 Feb 10
Lent might be a period of abstinence, but Bavarian monks decided centuries ago that drinking highly alcoholic beer helped their fasting. Thomas Barkley explains Munich's Starkbierzeit tradition. READ »

Rhineland jesters try to get Munich to lighten up for Karneval

Society: 10 Feb 10
Maybe it's the ''calming'' effect of all that Bavarian beer, but the relatively sedate approach to Karneval in Munich has the excitable folks from Cologne worried. So they've decided to do something about it. READ »

Don't mess with Bavaria

Society: 4 Feb 10
Loud, proud and fiercely independent, Bavaria is Germany’s Texas. But are laptops starting to beat out lederhosen? Lois Jones takes the former kingdom’s temperature. READ »

Oktoberfest security to be kept at last year's high level

National: 10 Jan 10
The extra tough security measures deployed to combat terrorist threats at last year's Oktoberfest in Munich will likely become a permanent requirement, organisers said over the weekend. READ »

Matthäus splits from fourth wife

Society: 5 Jan 10
Former German international and World Cup-winning skipper Lothar Matthäus has split from fourth wife Liliana and is considering divorce after just a year of marriage, Bunte magazine reported Tuesday. READ »

Last gasp petition for Bavarian smoking ban edges to referendum

National: 30 Nov 09
With just three days left for people to sign a petition for a referendum to strengthen Bavaria’s porous smoking ban, organisers told The Local on Monday that they have collected more than 80 percent of the required signatures. READ »

‘A panicked border guard using his gun was our biggest worry’

National: 9 Nov 09
The fall of the Berlin Wall sparked celebration, but also chaos in both halves of the city. David Wroe speaks with former West Berlin Mayor Walter Momper about how dicey November 9, 1989 really was. READ »

Terror warnings dampen Oktoberfest merriment

Society: 4 Oct 09
On the final day of Munich’s Oktoberfest, the city’s mayor said a series of terror warnings had contributed to a “noticeable” drop in revelers to the world’s largest beer festival. READ »

Al-Qaida recruiter nabbed with bomb materials

National: 2 Oct 09
German authorities said on Friday that they had arrested a Turkish-German man on suspicion of obtaining bomb-making materials and recruiting people for Islamist terror network al-Qaida. READ »

Terror threats fail to derail the party at Oktoberfest

Society: 1 Oct 09
Revellers at Munich's epic beer bash Oktoberfest aren't letting terrorist threats spoil this year's party, reports AFP's Ryland James. READ »

English tourist dead after fall from Munich hotel window

Society: 28 Sep 09
A 25-year-old English tourist fell to his death from a Munich hotel window after drunkenly trying to use it as a loo, police in the German state of Bavaria reported. READ »

Islamist suspects detained amid tightened Oktoberfest security

National: 28 Sep 09
Munich authorities on Monday tightened security checks at Oktoberfest and detained two suspected Islamists just days after terrorist threats led them to declare airspace above the festival a no-fly zone this weekend. READ »

Oktoberfest crowds drown recession in beer

Society: 27 Sep 09
Oktoberfest is booming despite the bad global economy, with 100,000 more guests downing a Maß or 10 in the first week compared with last year, organisers reported Sunday. READ »

Skies cleared over Oktoberfest crowds amid terror fear

Society: 26 Sep 09
A no-fly zone has been established over Munich’s Oktoberfest from Saturday onwards to prevent terrorists crashing planes into the massive crowds. READ »

Islamists make threats ahead of election

National: 26 Sep 09
German authorities have uncovered a new video threatening attacks against the country over its military engagement in Afghanistan ahead of this weekend's pivotal elections, according to officials in Berlin. READ »

Swine flu vaccines expected to arrive in mid-October

National: 23 Sep 09
The first batch of 50 million A/H1N1 swine flu vaccinations is expected to arrive in Germany in mid-October, daily Westfalen Blatt reported on Wednesday. READ »

Oktoberfest gets iPhone apps

Science & Technology: 23 Sep 09
Organisers of Munich's venerable Oktoberfest have updated the beer festival for the 21st century with a line of boozy mobile applications for the iPhone. READ »

Lehmann suspended after unauthorised Oktoberfest visit

Sport: 22 Sep 09
Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been suspended for Wednesday's German Cup match against VfB Lübeck because he attended Munich's beer festival last weekend after his side's defeat by Cologne. READ »

Australian killed by train after Oktoberfest visit

National: 21 Sep 09
A drunken Australian man visiting Munich’s Oktoberfest died early on Monday after being hit by an S-Bahn commuter train, according to the police. READ »

Oktoberfest opens to massive crowds

Society: 19 Sep 09
The 176th Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer festival, began in Munich Saturday morning to enormous crowds and tight security. READ »

Al-Qaida threatens Germany in terror video

National: 19 Sep 09
Al-Qaida warned Germans on Friday to change their government in the September 27 election, saying they will face a "bad awakening" if they do not, according to two intelligence monitoring services. READ »

'Gay Sunday' kicks off first Oktoberfest weekend

Society: 18 Sep 09
Gay Sunday, the homosexual “mega event” giving new meaning to men in leather trousers at Munich’s Oktoberfest, takes place each year on the first weekend of the world-famous Bavarian beer bash. READ »

Plans to censor Oktoberfest debauchery spark press protest

Society: 17 Sep 09
Attempts to restrict filming and photographing scenes of drunken debauchery at Munich's Oktoberfest this year has provoked accusations organisers of the beer bash are impinging freedom of the press. READ »

German parties present miniature political utopia in Hamburg

Politics: 15 Sep 09
As Germany's election race draws to a close, Hamburg’s Miniature Wonderland has opened an exhibition which makes it possible for voters to experience the vision of a perfect society as imagined by the country's six biggest parties. READ »

Court says drivers responsible for dodging Oktoberfest drunks

Society: 15 Sep 09
Four days before the world's largest beer festival begins, a court has ruled that a motorcyclist who hit a drunken pedestrian during Oktoberfest in 2006 was partly to blame because she should have expected the road to be full of party-goers. READ »

Oktoberfest beer cheaper for many tourists despite price hike

Society: 14 Sep 09
The average cost of a litre of beer at this year’s Oktoberfest will be €8.44. And while Germans might moan about the 3.8 percent increase from last year’s price, it’s still cheaper than what many tourists pay for brew back home. READ »

Raising a glass at Germany's autumn wine festivals

Society: 11 Sep 09
This weekend marks the beginning of Weinfest season, when cities across Germany celebrate one of the country’s oldest industries, wine making. The Local highlights the best of the Bacchanalian bashes. READ »

Oktoberfest beer Maß prices bubble over

Society: 20 May 09
Visitors to Munich’s world-famous beer bash Oktoberfest will have to dig even deeper in their pockets for a one-litre Maß of delicious amber nectar this year, with prices set to climb up to €8.60 per mug. READ »

Munich searches for Oktoberfest rape victim

National: 19 Mar 09
Police in Munich say they have an important new lead in their quest to find a woman who was filmed by three men as they drugged and raped her during Oktoberfest two years ago. READ »

Munich wants Chinese Gitmo detainees

National: 17 Mar 09
The Bavarian city of Munich, home to the country's largest communiity of Uighurs, a Chinese ethnic minority group, wants to take on 17 Uighur Guantanamo Bay prisoners when the camp closes. READ »

Kings, castles and kitsch: Getting to know the real Bavaria

Travel: 13 Jan 09
Popular clichés about Bavaria have created lasting impressions of Germany around the world. But Mark Worth takes the time to find out that the former kingdom has more to offer than just men in short leather trousers and beer. READ »

Group wants Oktoberfest named 'intangible' UNESCO site

National: 13 Jan 09
The German festival association DSB wants Munich’s Oktoberfest to be added to the UNESCO’s list as an Intangible Cultural Heritage element, daily tz reported on Tuesday. READ »

The Local's year in review

Society: 1 Jan 09
As 2009 kicks off, The Local takes a look back at some of the stories that caught our attention during our first year in Germany. READ »

Cologne Cathedral named Germany's top tourist site

National: 20 Nov 08
The Cologne Cathedral is the most beloved tourist attraction in Germany, according to a new poll published by the German Tourism Association (DTV) on Thursday. READ »

Oktoberfest revellers shun beer for condoms

Society: 7 Oct 08
Cold and clammy weather at this year’s Oktoberfest might have put some visitors off beer, but it also apparently encouraged people to cuddle up for warmth – and buy more condoms. READ »

Six million visit Munich's beer bash

National: 5 Oct 08
Some six million people braved rain and cool temperatures to hit the Wiesn and chug 6.6 million pitcher-sized mugs of beer at Munich’s 175th Oktoberfest which ended on Sunday. READ »

Bavarian vote could end CSU's one-party rule

Politics: 27 Sep 08
The Christian Social Union (CSU) has long had a tight grip on power in the German state of Bavaria, but the conservatives could lose their majority in elections this Sunday. READ »

Red Cross preps for swarms of Italians at Oktoberfest

Society: 26 Sep 08
The Bavarian Red Cross is preparing to treat hordes of Italian revelers who have made a tradition of attending the second week of Oktoberfest. READ »

What's on in Germany: September 25-October 1

Lifestyle: 25 Sep 08
This Week's Highlights: Murakami opens in Frankfurt, a film festival begins in Hamburg, and one Berlin gallery focuses on fashion photography. READ »

Bavaria's first lady sparks 'dirndl-gate'

National: 21 Sep 08
There's no dress code at Oktoberfest, but the pressure for women to make a fashion statement via their choice of dirndl is great. One prominent female visitor though, has spawned “dirndl-gate” by rejecting the garment in favour of a more modest jacket. READ »

Klinsmann rues 'black' Saturday as Bremen rout Bayern

Sport: 20 Sep 08
Bayern Munich coach Jürgen Klinsmann could only rue his side's 'black' Saturday as Werder Bremen routed the defending Bundesliga champions 5-2 in Munich. READ »

Oktoberfest kicks off in Munich

Society: 20 Sep 08
Cloudy skies and cool temperatures couldn't dampen the merriment as the 175th Oktoberfest was officially opened at midday by Munich mayor, Christian Ude, who tapped the first keg of beer and uttered the famous cry, “O'zapft is!” READ »