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OKTOBERFEST
|CUSTOMS | OKTOBERFEST
The Joy of Beer
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There is no bigger beer carnival than Oktoberfest. This event is considered one of the most iconic in the world, such as the Carnival in Rio, Semana Santa in Seville, Palia in Siena, the Bull Run in Pamplona, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Beer aficionados dream of being one of Oktober’s guests, preferably several times. The same applies to those people who don’t like beer. Actually, it applies to everyone.
THE FIRST, THE BIGGEST, THE BEST Not only is Oktoberfest the largest beer brand, but it has also become a kind of worldwide "franchise" unlike the others, which have a local historical background. Oktoberfest is the earliest grassroots festival that was created in Munich in 1810. Today, it
lasts from 16 to 18 days, from mid-September to the first week of October, and is visited by six million people e very year, beer drinkers and others. Locals often call it Wiesn, since the place called T heresa's Meadows or in German, Theresienwiese, is the location where the festival is held every year. Today, interestingly enough, Oktoberfest in Munich is not the only Oktoberfest in Germany and
even the rest of the world. German emi grants have taken the custom to other continents (one of the largest, and for a long time, the second-largest Oktoberfest in the world was the one held in the town of Blumenau in Santa Catarina, Brazil). Oktoberfest is also held in Argentina, the USA and more recently, in Novi Sad.
Up to 8 litres of beer are consumed at Oktoberfest in Munich. The festival is known for other types of entertainment too , with food taking the centre stage and Bavarian sausage being the highlight of the festival food. Oktoberfest’s history and timeline are also worth me ntioning. The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place in the 16 days leading up to the first Sunday in October. In 1994, this longstanding schedule was modified in response to German reunification. As such, if
the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or the 2nd, then the festival would run until 3 October. Thus, the festival now runs for 17 days when the first Sunday is 2 October and 18 days when it is 1 October.
THE PAST AND CUSTOMS It all started again with the kings of Bavaria, who had the good old custom of getting married in the autumn, same as ‘regular’ people. Ludwig I married Princess Theresa on 12 October 1810, with horse races and a beer-drinking fair held in honour of the event, and people celebrating the royal marriage. Someone figured out that all this worked out really in 1810, so they decided to persuade the king to repeat the festivities the next year at the same time. And that's when the festival became a tradition. The rest is history. A statue of Bavaria was built in 1850 to proudly ‘supervise’ the drinking of barley and hops liquor. At the end of the 19th century, games were discontinued to leave more table space, and in 1887, the fes tival became a real carnival with a procession of brewers decorated with chariots and costumes, accompanied by music on the first Saturday of Oktoberfest. Since the end of World War II, serving traditional Oktoberfest beer, which is 2% stronger than regular beer, has been banned. As of 1950, e verything became standardized and starts in the same way. At noon, firing from 12 rifles on the steps of Ruhmeshalle, marks the beginning of Oktoberfest with the proclamation "O'zapft is!" ("It has been draughted!", spoken in the Austro-Bavarian dialect) with the mayor of Munich opening the first barrel of beer in the Schottenhammel tent. The mayor then gives the first litre of beer to the Prime Minister of Bavaria. This is a sign that everyone can start serving beer. Most often, the beer is served by girls wearing attractive dirndl dresses. There is a ‘foreplay’ to all of this too. Before the festival officially begins, parades feature traditional waiter clubs, beer servers and landowners. In fact, there are two different parades that end at Theresienwiese. T hey start around 9:45 a.m. and last until 10.50 p.m. During Oktoberfest, some locals wear Bavarian hats (Tirolerhüte), that are made from chamois fur (Gamsbart), which photographs well. The main row is always headed by a person featured on Munich’s coat of arms, also known as Munich Kindle, or "the Munich Child", who was originally a monk (hence the name Munich meaning "Monk" or Monk's Town). In a humorous in
EIN PROSIT DER GEMÜTLICHKEIT IN OCTOBER IN SERBIA TOO Belgrade and Novi Sad are no longer lagging behind the aforementioned cities, which, because of their love for this festival and the respective German communities, started celebrating Oktoberfest. In Serbia, Oktoberfest has been organized by the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce for over a decade for the Chamber’s members and their guests. The success of Oktoberfest in Serbia is also evidenced by the fact that both festivals, the one in Belgrade and the one in Novi Sad, have become a tradition.
terpretation from the 16th century, Munich Kindle was portrayed with a beer in his hand, instead of the Bible. Today, during the Oktoberfest parade, Munich Kindle is always represented by a young girl which is so typically Germa n and medieval; that is turning something serious into something merry.
A STEP FORWARD Similar albeit smaller festivals, called Voksfest, are held all around in Bavaria. Needless to say, the beer festival is globally popular everywhere where German expats are - Blumenau, Kitchener in Ontario, Villa Generál Belgrano in Argentina are just some of the places where the German expats hold their versión of Oktoberfest. The festival is also held in several other places in the U S (where Germans are the largest ethnic group), mostly in Cincinnati. The history of the German expats is long. Kitchener was even called Berlin for a long time, and today a huge number of people speak German as their first language here, with the most spoken word being “Gemütlichtkeit" (warmth). In Blumenau, admission to the festival is free if you wear the traditional German costume. There are many Oktoberfests today with different customs, but there is only one original.
|TOURISM | WINE FESTIVALS
Stuttgart Area rules it all!
OK, maybe it’s too ambitious to say that the Stuttgart region rules over everything else, since the same can be said for many other regions as well, but the tame nature of this part of Germany has made the vine feel at home here. And the result of it was wine, wine parties and wine festivities. In that order...
THE ROMANS, WHO ELSE?! As early as the 3rd century AD, Roman emperors planted vineyards all over the country, and wine continued to be made after the collapse of the empire that brought the vine to this part of the world. By the 16th century, Stuttgart was already one of the largest winegrowing communities in the Holy Roman Empire that encompassed the German nation too, that is, the Roman-Ger man Empire, which is the name under which
the Roman Empire was resurrected in the Middle Ages in the West. The slopes of the mountains, the closeness to the 45th parallel, and plenty of sunshine, equivalent to that in northern H ungary or Austria, where great wines are also produced, were crucial.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN TRUMP CARDS TODAY?
The main wines grown today in the Stuttgart region are the black varieties - Lemberger, Spatburgunder and Trollinger. Trollinger is inextricably linked to the region like Por sche and Mercedes-Benz are linked to Stuttgart in, albeit, a different, motorized way. This fruity, bright red wine matures late and can be enjoyed when young and chilled. Originally, this vine with large size grapes comes from South Tyrol and Trentino, where it goes by the name of Vernatsch. However, the name "Trollinger" seems to be a corrupt ed version of "Tyrolinger". As for white wines, R iesling leads the region's winemaking with outstanding wines made from it. Other varieties include Kerner, Silvaner and Muller T hurgau. Besides, Sauvignon Blanc is gaining
iently tucked away on the banks of the N eckar River. In late August and mid-September, typically at Weindorf in Stuttgart, which becomes the capital of wine just like Munich becomes the capital of beer a week later, over 500 different wines from the Baden-Wurttemberg region can be tasted. To help wine drinkers to drink as much as possible, chefs serve salty Swiss specialities like "Kässpätzle" (cheesy noodles), "M aultaschen" (stuffed pasta) or potato
in popularity with wineries, and therefore in importance with winemakers. The provincial capital Stuttgart is the only German city to own 17 .5 hectares of municipal vineyards, spanning six different locations.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SOIL The Stuttgart topography is unique in Germany. The city centre lies in a basin enclosed by green hills. Thanks to this unique location, vine yards can even be found downtown. To access the steep terraces, in the second half of the 19th century , growers had to build stairs and paths. More than 400 of these "Stäffele", or steps, still exist today. Climbing them is equivalent to a good 20 km of walking, so the wine routes of this region are not for the weak!
On the historic hill known as Württem berg, one can enjoy one of the best views of the Stuttgart vine yards and the idyllic Neckar valley. In the 11th century, this was the location of the castle of the founder of the Württemberg House. In 1820, after the untimely death of his beloved wife, Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia, King William built a chapel there. At the foot of Württemberg in Stuttgart-Uhlbach, the Museum of Viticulture in Stuttgart invites visitors to discover two thousand years of viticultural history in a visit that encompasses all the senses. Original wine barrels, winemaking equipment, certificates, maps and other documents are on display. The "Viertel" (quarter litre) of wine at the museum's Vinothek is the perfect way to round off this tour of history.
The Stuttgart Wine Trail was envisaged as a circular walk and you can join or leave a well-marked route at any point. It invites you to discover beautiful slopes, idyllic spots, pic turesque vistas and interesting attractions to choose from trails through vine yards.
AND NOW – FESTIVITIES! There are numerous wine festivals throughout the year, such as the Autumn Festival in Fellbach (early October), the Cellar Night in Weinstadt or the Weindorf Wine Festival in Stuttgart, one of the largest and best wine festivals in Germany. There is also Weindorf in Heilbronn, Herbstweinfest in Bönnigheim and Brackenheim, or W einfest in the town of Lauffen-am-Neckar, which, you’ve guessed it, is convennoodles with sauerkraut. A typical feature of the Stuttgart wine region is the "Besenwirtschaften" or "Broom Taverns", i.e. temporary wine taverns that open only twelve weeks a year. T he name comes from a broom that hangs on the door and indicates that they are open for business. Only the wine of one particular winemaker is sold there. It is usually served in the traditional way, not in long-handled glasses but in the glasses with a handle that is typical of the Baden-Württemberg and Swabian regions. So, if you like beer, go to Germany to a beer festival. But if you like wine, then also go to Germany, to Swabia! There, far from the Mediterranean, where you might not have expected top quality wines and entertain ment, the idyllic and cheerful atmosphere of southern Germany will enchant you.
THE COUNTRY WHERE THE KING OF WHITE WINES WAS BORN
ByJELENA SAVIĆ
Germany, as a very cold region, has given the wine world one of the best white wines called Riesling
Germany ranks eighth in the world in annual wine production. In numbers, this is 1.2 billion bottles per year. Even though wine production makes up for only onetenth of the total beer production in Germany, 220 million litres of ‘Sekt’, which is how champagne is called in German, should be added to this figure.
German wines also have a great price, especially compared to French wines of the same quality , so solid German wines cost 3-4 euro, better around 7, and great & top quality between 9 and 12 euro.
More than half of the vine in Germany grows in the Rhineland-Palatinate province, and its capital, Mainz. It is worth mentioning that the best German wines are dry, and known for their sugar content, so when ordering or buying the famous Riesling, make sure whether you buying dry or semi-dry one. Wine can be dry with a high percentage of acids but also with a fine tart sweetness (trocken) or very sweet, as a result of botrytis or low temperatures (Trocken beerenauslese and Eiswein / ice wine). Germany has 13 wine-pro ducing regions, each known for its own wine style, and very often from the same grape varieties. In general, the lightest and most elegant German wines are made in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Ahr regions. Somewhat fuller and more powerful wines are produced in the Mittelrhein, Nahe, Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Saale-Unstrut regions, while the most powerful German wines are produced in the Pfalz, Hessische Bergstrasse, Sachsen, Wurttemberg and Baden regions.
In Serbia, German wines can be bought in better-stocked wineries and their price ranges from 1,000 to several thousand dinars per bottle.
|HEALTH | THE HOME OF HOMEOPATHY
Many people do not trust homeopathy that much and look with amazement in the direction of Germany, in which this practice was not only started but also legally protected and recognized. What makes Germans so committed to this alternative treatment…
NINETEENTH CENTURY - A TIME OF NEW RESEARCH
tally, can be said of other types of alternative medicine such as mesmerism ( medical hypnosis), hydropathy, or anthroposophic medicine. At the time when all these branches of medicine were starting, there was not even Germany as such, but rather this definition was extended to include all countries where German was spoken. T he new art of healing spread sometime in the first half of the 19th century, when homeopathic doctors, such as Hahnemann, who resided in present- day Germany until 1835, began to practice homeopathy in German-speaking countries. Dr Hahnemann started to expand his knowledge and teachings as early as the first decades of the 19th century. In 1812, his followers, also physicians, such as Stapf, Gross, Horburg, Franz or Hartmann, who formed a "union" of homeopathic physicians, started to practice too. Efforts and attempts were made to make an entire homeopathic hospital, but in 1832, Hahnemann did not like the people who were chosen to run it. This tells us a lot about homeopathy itself as Hahnemann called them "semi-homeopaths." Overall, homeopathy was based on the idea of "treating like with like," which is a transla tion from Greek and the very term 'homeopathy'. Overall, homeopaths believe that the original substance can be diluted indefinitely, as long as no original substance molecule is left, but in the iteration of the dilution the fluid which is stricken and shaken. During this process, homeopaths believe that the fluid "remembers" the properties of the dissolved drug which is then transferred to the entire next diluted mixture. In 1833, the German veterinarian Wilhelm Lux devised a similar technique, called isopathy. And then started the clash of opinions...
In the 20th century, homeopathy experienced another boom after being challenged in the late 19th century . In the 1930s, homeopathy became extremely popular, and in 1938, homeopathic remedies were recognized as regular medicines in the United States. With the rise of the Ne w Age movement in the 1970s, there was a resurgence
of belief in homeopathic remedies, which persists to this day, despite the disbelief expressed by, say, the renowned The Economist. Indian homeopaths began to come to Germany in large numbers to teach and in the 1980s, the Homöopathie-Forum was founded, which is today the largest homeopath organization in the country, with 1,000 members. In Germany , homeopathy is popular and legal, but only "heilpraktikers" or doctors have the right to use it in treatment which just goes to show that this is not quack medicine brought to you fra udulent physicians. Doctors can claim that they practice homeopathy, but they cannot declare themselves solely as homeopaths, and the y cannot treat venereal diseases, genital diseases, smallpox or malaria with homeopathy. Plus, they must complete 6 to 12 monthlong internship in homeopathy .
HOMEOPATHY IN GERMANY TODAY
In 1997, German professional homeopaths formed an organization called Verband Klassischer Homöopathen Deutschlands (VKHD). T oday, there are 2,800 physicians qualified to use homeopathic methods in treatment, although many others use it too. In Germany, hom eopathy regulation is harmonized with the EU one - medicines must be registered but not tested. Those homeopathic remedies that are less diluted than D4 (1:10-4) must be tested for side effects. Medicines can be sold without a prescription at German pharmacies, with Germany being the only EU co untry where homeopathic herb- or mineral-based medicines, which are produced in very small quantities, do not need to be registered at all. In other countries, only medicines made personally by a pharmacist do not have to be registered. In 2017 , homeopathy was not a prevalent treatment in Germany, but it is by no means negligible: homeopathic remedies accounted for 2.74% of units sold in the pharmaceutical sector that year (0.90% of the turnover), while 0.14% of prescriptions covered by state health insurance were for homeopathic remedies. A 2008 telephone survey of adults in Germany found that 11.5% had used homeopathy during their lifetime. Homeopathy accounts for 27.4% of contacts with patients in the segment of alternative medicine. Impressive figures, indeed! In other countries, homeopathy may be viewed as mumbo-jumbo, but in Germany, it is deeply associated with nature and alternative treatments. Homeopathy is here to stay.
|TOURISM | NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE
The Dream of the Last Bavarian King
Some places are part of “the collective unconscious", part of the imagination of each of us, ever since childhood, and a product of every child’s imagination. The Neuschwanstein Castle, in Bavaria, is such a place. Disne y recognized when he was creating his fairy tales. Some say Disney's fairy tale castle was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle, while others claim that the good old Walt
THE MIND OF THE YOUNG KING This story begins at the time when the Free State of Bavaria was the Kingdom of Bavaria, located between Austria, which was already slowly abandoning the idea of the unification of Germany under its crown, and the northern and central German states, led by powerful Prussia, which later succeeded in uniting the majority of Germans under Kaiser. Bavaria was ruled by Maximilian II, the king who loved the countryside around the city of Füssen, or rather the v illage of Hohenschwangau. There used to be a sequence of 4 castles in that village, of which Max II managed to rebuild only one (the Old Schweinstein) and turn it into his summer and winter residence. Today this “yellow pearl” is called Hohenschwangau. In this castle, a handsome and romantic young man named Ludwig II was prepar ing to become king of Bavaria, and to finalize his father's idea of rebuilding the ruined castles. T he two castles that remained in the ruins did not impress him with their size, so he decided to remove their remains and build a magnificent "romantic castle" instead of them, the "New Swan on the Rock", if you will, which would be as white as a swan. Back then, people used their money and titles to build themselves "romantic ruins" on their estates, so why not build an entire royal castle, which was supposed to be the Versailles of Bavaria.
FROM THE IDEA TO THE REALIZATION In 1867, the King decided to engage in some public work to mitígate the economic crisis and reduce unemployment by hiring a multitude of workers on the construction site. A special canteen was set up for them, which today is a great hotel, decorated in the secessionist style, called The Zur Neuer Burg. N umerous visitors stopped by the hotel, curious to see how this wonder of architecture was being built. Ludwig II himself was inspired by the castle in Wartburg and the Romanesque architecture, so the castle was built in the neo -Romanesque style (a special faction of this style, used in castle design, was called Burgenromantik), with some very important details. Specif
ically, the king was very fond of Greece – e very possible Greece there was - from the ancient to Byzantium. Hence, as a result of his fascination with Hellenism, he even changed the name of the country - instead of BAIERN, he spelt it BAYERN, because, in Spanish, the letter Y is called "the Greek letter I". Besides, he decorated the interi or of the castle in keeping with the style of the Renaissance palaces in Italy he adored, but he designed the church segments and motifs to have a strikingly Orthodox component with Greek inscriptions since he a dmired Byzantium. Thirdly, most of the in
terior decorations were done in the Gothic style, since the king "wanted a castle worthy of German knights" and the German medieval tradition.
A SAD END AND A HAPPY AFTERPARTY The king had a sad demise. He died in 1886 or was killed by his opponents. This was the time when the German unification was a popular movement with Ludwig II opposing it. He further impoverished the Treasury with this monumental building. The castle was finished in haste and partially and the third floor was never completed. If it were com pleted, it would have been spectacular, done in Moorish style of Spain ("mudéjar"), similar to the Alhambra. This was the fourth pillar of the king's romantic vision but to no avail. He slept only 11 nights in the castle, and his contemporaries declared him "a mad zealot".
Regardless, the castle has outlived both the king and the haters. Today, 1.3 million people visit it annually. In summer, the castle has 6,000 visitors a day, which shortens the castle tours. The images of the castle are made into puzzles and found in children's books and our imagination. The castle i s located far from every day’s hustle and bustle of the modern world. This perfect Instagram site still stands solitary despite all the connectivity around us. As Ludwig himself told Anton Memminger, the Bavarian Railway planner: “Do not disturb the idyllic loneliness of this romantic landscape by building factories or railroads. For there will come a time when many people, like me, will seek a place remote and untouched by modern culture and technology, greed and haste, away from the noise and turmoil, dirt and dust of cities, a refuge. ” And so it came to be! There are no factories or smoke here. There is also no railroad leading to Neu schwanstein; just our imagination.
QUICK FACTS
FROM PLENTY TO REMNANTS
Before the World War II, it is estimated that in Vo- jvodina (and the rest of Serbia to a lower extent) liv ed some 350,000 Germans. In 2011, only 4064 people declared German ethnicity.
SWABIAN TURKEY
German was widely spoken in Serbia until 1944, in the region of Vojvodina, particularly along the Danube and on the Romanian border. Their dialect was a part of the German language con- tinuum, called Türk-Schwäbisch or Turk-Swabian.
SERBS IN GERMANY
In Germany there are about 600,000 people of Serbian ancestry, of which some 300,000 are Serbian nationals working in Germany (popu- larly called Gastarbeiters). The majority (64%) of the Serbian p opulation is concentrated in three federal states: North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
INDUSTRIALISTS AND BEER MAKERS
Germans were the founders of many factories in today’s Serbia, and they are considered fathers of Serbian beer industry, with people like Weifert or Zoffmann being synonymous of the beer brands
FROM ZOLLVEREIN TO INDUSTRIAL SUPERPOWER
Germany was lagging in the Industrial Revolu- tion behind Belgium, the UK and France since th ey had the protectionist Zollverein Union, and they became a unified country relatively lately. Therefore the first factories were open only in the second half of the 19th century (even Bosch was established only in 1886), but then quickly outgrew the rest of the world.
VACANCIES! JOBS OFFERED!
Germany heavily advertised the jobs of medical doctors, nurses and the persons for the care of the elder in Serbia, since these jobs are needed in Germany, because of the growing and ageing population at the same time
