Only in Bavaria

Today is the German Unification Day (Bank Holiday) and last day of the Oktoberfest in Munich (normally ends on first Sunday in October). I didn't manage to get to the Oktoberfest this year (Angie did) but to make up I was invited by a local farmer - Franz aka "Beckenbauer" - to the demonstration of the village's voluntary fire brigades new pump. The demonstration consisted of starting the engine (a BMW Boxer motor of which they are very proud) and letting it run for 20 secs. There then followed the real business - beer, beer, beer, weisswurst, brezn & senf. The beer was dispensed through the new pump thus there was no chance to show off the pumps fire & flood fighting capabilities.
A good time was had by all the local firefighters from the surrounding villages. By it's very nature the voluntary fire fighting idea is very strong in the rural areas. Our village of 700 inhabitants has a "small" very modern 6.5t fire engine & our main parish village "Sontheim" with 1900 inhabitants a somewhat larger engine. I think together there are about 80-90 voluntary firemen. The have helped us 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years but since I invested in a generator and a petrol driven water pump 3 years ago, we have not had any flooding - hopefully it stays that way.