Theresa Welcome

Today the Oktoberfest starts in Munich with a short and small parade of the Tent and Showground owners and staff pulled by horse (and one by oxen) pulled carriages and accompanied by the wonderfully decorated horse pulled beer drays. Tomorrow the big 9,000 people, 7km parade.

 
The parade is to what is known nowadays as the “Wiesn” or Theresienwiese on the edge of the inner city. “Theresa’s Meadow” where in 1810 the Bavarian King Ludwig I celebrated his marriage to Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxony-Hildburghausen and hence the meadow was named after her. In her bloodline, there are, or were to be, connections to the British Royal Family notably the Saxe-Coburgs aka. Windsors. One of their sons Otto became the first King of Greece.
 
It is the event in Bavaria and despite its drunken image of 7 million visitors downing as many litres of beer in the 16 (to 18) days it is held, it is anything but. It is a Folk’s festival, no entry fees, loads of tents and stalls offering food, coffee, wine, cake, sweets and a massive fairground. During the day you will be more hindered by children's pushchairs than drunks.
 
There is one section of the site where an entrance fee has to be paid. Every fourth year an agricultural show and otherwise it’s the “Old Wiese” trying to recreate a bit of the atmosphere of the earlier days. Here, only traditional music and generally quieter, pairs tending to dance in the aisles rather than sway on beer benches. Entrance free for under 15-year-olds and the disabled, otherwise €3 and all the carousel/funfair rides cost €1.
 
When I first went to the Oktoberfest in 1989, you were almost a freak if you dressed in Lederhosen or Dirndl. Jeans were the uniform. In the 90’s this suddenly started to change and it is now the reverse. , I should add that jeans remain very acceptable and you won’t be castigated for dressing normally.
 
I have never made an effort to get myself the Bavarian outfit although a few years ago Angie insisted I buy a second-hand pair of Lederhosen which I have been known to wear, notably when friends from the UK come to visit. Over the years the odd “tablecloth” shirt and wool cardigan have been handed down to me from family andfriends. Always missing was a pair of the obligatory “Haferlschuhe”, the traditional leather shoes. After the 2016 Oktoberfest, I happened to see a pair on offer in the supermarket for €25 and took the plunge. I have never worn them though even if made of real (suede!) leather,  the “Made in Vietnam” sticker somehow puts me off. I don’t think I have been to the Oktoberfest since 2012. There were plans to go with son and son-in-law this year but due to other commitments had to be cancelled. 2019 is being talked about so maybe the shoes may yet get a showing.

Now, this will come as a shock to most Brits and even Germans never mind Bavarians who have the Brits to thank for the popularity of the “Haferlschuh". In 1803 a shoemaker from our region of Bavaria, the Allgäu came up with the idea of a leather shoe to replace the very solid wooden shoes used by the farming community. In more hilly areas, the wooden shoe did not cope well with slippery and steep conditions. He developed in 1803 the “Half-Shoe” with a cut out around the ankle and with enough support to take pressure off the toes when walking downhill. By the end of the 19th Century, there were around 800 shoesmiths in the Allgäu making these shoes, one of whom developed a finer more elegant version which caught the attention of visiting English tourists who were developing the mountaineering and skiing sports. They, in turn, would also visit the scene of Theresa’s humiliation, Salzburg for a bit of culture and using their new semi-mountaineering shoes to climb the hill in the city. This attracted the interest of Austrian shoemakers and the Haferlschuh never looked back in the entire German-speaking Alpine region.
 
And I think it should be very heavily stressed that the Germans and Bavarians still very much hope the UK will remain. They continue to be great fans and always have been. Back in 2016, the day after the referendum result, the then German Foreign Minister said we can’t abandon the youth of Britain to their politicians and later went on to try and get automatic EU citizenship for all young people who were studying in Europe. Just today as one of the brass bands struck up, the TV commentator without hesitation said “that music was played at Princess/Queen Elizabeth’s wedding"!
 
Certainly, Mrs May is unlikely to get a very warm welcome if she turns up on her Meadow in the next 16 days but the Bavarians will bring her back down to earth with a beer or two and show her how to swing those hips standing on a beer bench. And we know, Mrs May, how much you like shoes. Haferl shoes are also available for women and a good handmade pair can easily set you back €1,100 £1,000.


Come on Theresa, get real.
PS The 1810 Therese had been lined up as a potential wife for Napolean!