Oktoberfest and Kirmes – Reasons to Drink

• Partying twice with the baker and his group of friends
• Heading back to Clingen to celebrate the “religious holiday” with the town
• Waiting for the guy – dances with the women of the house while the men go “fruehschoppen”

Intermixed with the rehearsals and the performances of the opera, some beloved German drinking traditions were taking place. I had the luck of being invited to two of these festivities. Oktoberfest, which is a traditional Bavaria celebration, is now hosted in most major cities in Germany, including Erfurt. Kirmes was originally designed to celebrate the anniversary of a church consecration; today it is a time to dress up and drink through the night (and again in the morning).

Oktoberfest, as many know, takes place at the end of September. In Erfurt, the celebration lasts over three weeks. A very large tent is constructed on the cathedral plaza, and it is filled to the brim on Friday and Saturday nights. Beer is overpriced, but the toilets are free. I did not make it in 2017 as I did not know anyone that “celebrated” Oktoberfest. I was glad to be invited in 2018. We started with a practice round with the baker and his buddy.

We had no trouble finding a table, as it was a week night. I did, however, need to borrow a shirt as I could only find Lederhosen, long socks, and leather shoes on short notice. We enjoyed over a liter of beer and then I only had a couple hours before I had to meet the baker back at the bakery – we had work to do that night still.

With a week to recover, we set out for the real deal – a Saturday night in the tent. I was fortunate enough to find a half a table for our party: the baker and wife, and two additional couples. There was much drinking, many shots, and much dancing. My leather shoes were the most uncomfortable things I have ever worn. Luckily the alcohol allowed me to ignore the blisters that were forming and popping.

The night wore on into the wee hours of the morning, and we all decided that was enough. I said my goodbyes and walked about ten feet before removing my shoes and socks and walking back to my place barefoot. Yes, glass was everywhere, but my blisters would not have allowed me one more minute in those damn shoes.

Interesting people-watching:

Kirmes is intended to be an anniversary, so this event can happen at any point in the year. In Clingen, where I spend my summer in 2018 making goat cheese, Kirmes is celebrated in early November. My former neighbor was really excited to introduce me to their small village celebration. Luckily, I knew almost all of the inhabitants.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon. The plan was to attend the sold-out event, which spanned two buildings that evening and drink ourselves into a stupor. The next morning is “Frühschoppen”, which is a continuation of the imbibement, but for breakfast. During the morning, a person dresses up as some sort of creature made out of hay and knocks on the doors of the village. The ‘housewife’ is then supposed to dance with this creature on the streets. But, I am getting ahead of myself. First the getting wasted part:

We head to the hall where the tables are set and the customers are already downing the drinks. The organizers are all dressed up in tuxes, which is a bit overkill. They make some big announcements and start off the event with a dance. The live band plays in the background as the male and female singers switch off doing cover versions of popular songs. All in all, it was well organized and quite fun. But then the songs started where there was known choreography…

Of course, I joined in once I got the gist of it. This was done to the tune of “500 Miles” by The Proclaimers. I’d be happy to provide detailed descriptions of the complex movement, if asked. I greeted the people of Clingen like a long-lost friend throughout the night as I was still talked about from the Friday night town hall performances. Fortunately, there were no hugs.

And here is where the story gets sad: my host had an emergency soccer game the next day, so could not participate in morning drinking. In order to accommodate his schedule, I hopped back on the train to Erfurt early on Sunday and missed the hayman, too. Perhaps next year…