The first festival without a royal family

Due to the outbreak of World War I, Munich had to abstain from its beloved festival for the first time in the 20th century. From 1914 to 1918, five Oktoberfests fell victim to the war - as well as Bavaria’s Monarchy. On November 7th, 1918, the November Revolution began with a rally at the Theresienwiese and led to the escape of King Ludwig III the same day, which meant the end of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Until then, the participation of the royal family was an integral part of the Oktoberfest’s history as the festival itself was from its beginning in 1810 designed to help create a national Bavarian identity and honor the king. However, the Bavarian shooting clubs didn’t think long about whether a Volksfest necessarily needed a king or not and therefore organized a “Herbstfest” at the Theresienwiese.

It’s not hard to imagine why the organization of an actual Oktoberfest was impossible at the time. Not even the most basic supplies were guaranteed shortly after the war. Hence, no chicken or even oxen could be sold at this Herbstfest and the small beer that was offered didn’t cause a wave of excitement either.

For lack of electricity, the festival had to close at 6:30 pm each day. Only the impressive riflemen parade with about 4000 participants created a ray of hope that better times will follow.