In 1810 Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildberg – the occasion was marked with a folk festival centered around horseraces, games, music, and tremendous quantities of beer and food.  Apparently everyone really enjoyed themselves so the folks of Munich decided to make it an annual event and with each year the festival grew and grew, outlasting the reign of Ludwig, forced off the throne during the German revolution, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany.   It is a tradition that has survived depressions, wars, and horrors unimaginable, a tradition that represents so much of what is good about the German people, a festival celebrating harvest and change and community.  It is a festival in which the casual observer will hear the song “Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit,” every twenty minutes. 

Today, on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer, we’re talking about Oktoberfest.

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