Munich Local Customs

Since more than 500 years the so-called "Münchner Reinheitsgebot" makes sure, that for the brewing of beer in Bavaria only Barley, Malt, Hops and water (Gerste, Hopfen, Malz und Wasser) would be used.

There were several attempts - also by the EU - to set an end to these regulations, but they did not have any chance in Bavaria !

On my picture, the young lady with the beerglass is the so-called "Münchner Kindl" (Munich child) - you will see a young lady in that dress riding on a horse during the parade of "Einzug der Wiesenwirte" on 1st saturday of Oktoberfest !
It always looks a bit funny, as the nice young lady is riding one of the heavy horses with strong feet that is normally used to pull the heavy beer-wagons...

This is just a little survival trick performed by Richie when he forgot to bring his jacket to the beergarden on a cool evening. According to him plastic bags keep you warm when you wear them. And they are sexy as well, aren't they? ;)

The English Garden is an enormous park that provides plenty of recreational and leisure activities for the locals of Munich, not to mention the fact that you can sunbathe in the buff.

I always love a city that has a great park to escape to . . . London, New York, Madrid all fall into that category, but only in Munich are you likely to see a soccer game, somebody surfing, multiple beer gardens and so much bare skin all on an afternoon stroll.

Munich has a well-developed system of bike paths which are usually marked on the streets. As a pedestrian this can be a little unnerving, so be sure you're paying attention as you're walking on the sidewalks. Bicyclists tend to rule the roads and many of them travel at pretty high speeds.

If you plan to spend a day in the English Garden, renting a bike would be an ideal way to see the place.

This is the sign you'll notice if you happen to stroll by a post office. The post offices I visited in both Germany and Austria were extremely clean and efficient in appearance, but, just like in the States, there is often a long line.

If you're just mailing postcards, you're better off buying stamps from the vendor who sells you the postcards. They will know the correct postage to mail to most countries and then you can avoid the line and just drop your mail in a postbox. The postcards that I mailed all arrived back to the States in about 5-7 days.

Schäffler was an important guild in Bavaria of previous centuries.

"Schäffler" is the professional, making wooden vats and similar things.
Of course a region like Bavaria needed a lot of them for their beer-poduction, that way Schäffler became rich and wealthy.

Today you may still see them performing their well-known "Schäffler-tanz" :
Normally it is a group of several people in their traditional costumes dancing with a garland, like to be seen on my picture-combination.

Also on the Rathaus / townhall in Munich you will see some "Schäffler" - sculptures performing their dances in the Glockenspiel / chimes.

Schäfflerstrasse in Munich - where I took this pic - is halfway from Marienplatz to Odeonsplatz

When watching the "Trachten-umzug" on 1st saturday of Oktoberfest you will see them as well !

ONLY beer, beeing brewed in the town of Munich, may be sold on Oktoberfest !!

This is an advertisment, posted in Munich, close to Theresienwiese & Oktoberfest:
The Oktoberfest - mostly called WIES'N by the locals - will allow ONLY breweries, producing their beer INSIDE the town of Munich, to be sold at the Oktoberfest.

NO exception to this rule, NOT EVEN for the descendant of the last Bavarian king, who has a brewery, but NOT inside the city limits.
Sometimes Prince Poldi is seen in his carriage in the opening ceremony of Oktoberfest, and a few years ago it was a big "scandal", when he had some bottles of his own beer ( also called "Prinzregent Luitpold") on the carriage and offered it to some friends as soon as he had reached Theresienwiese.
Police was there immideately and made sure, the old law was fullfilled...

On the other hand "Wies'n" is also a simple meadow - on this poster a meadow close to the castle of King Ludwig II , whose father had the idea for Oktoberfest once...

So if you like to drink the beer with the name "Prinzregent Luitpold" on a Wies'n - you may do it on any Wies'n except the one in Munich

btw. Prinz Poldi is very popular because of his humor...

...but it will not help him in that matter...

The traditional "Trachten-Umzug" will start in the morning of the 1st sunday and in a long parade it will go across Munich.
Thousands of participants in their traditional costumes from all over Germany and even abroad, traditional brass-bands, horse-carriages, cows, sheep and other animals are sometimes also participating in the parade, starting somewhere behind the "Staatskanzlei" and finally walking down Prinzregentenstrasse, walking through Sonnenstrasse and finally Schwantalerstrasse to Theresienwiese.

NO entrance-fee to be paid to watch the parade, just go there and search for an empty spot along any of the streets.