EIN PROSIT!
The true meaning of Oktoberfest
Given that it’s the biggest beer bash in the world, you might assume Oktoberfest is a tradition that dates as far back as Roman histories of Germania. You would be wrong.
Vancouver Alpen Club general manager Patrick Buehrmann admits that perception exists. The truth is that the annual volksfest (folk festival) celebrating Bavarian culture is far more recent. The global branding of the event is so intertwined with German identity today that the true story is almost always forgotten.
“It actually began as a Munichbased celebration around the marriage of Kronprinz Ludwig to Princess Therese in October of 1810, and then became more of an overall folk and beer festival — but beer is pretty much part of every German festival,” said Buehrmann. “In my hometown of Paderborn, we have Libori, which is one of the oldest of these type of events.”
Beer is most certainly a part of our local Oktoberfest.
In the media release for the Vancouver Alpen Club’s annual event, the estimate is that over the next three weekends, more than 1,200 people will attend the festivities. They will consume over 7,000 litres of beer, or 5.8 litres per person. Don’t get the wrong impression about how crazy things get. That brew is needed for washing down heaping platters of grilled Thüringer bratwurst, pretzels, Bavarian meat loaf, whole or half pork hocks, sauerkraut, pan-fried potatoes, and more.
“It sounds like a ridiculous amount of beer, but it’s not when you consider how much food we are serving as well,” he said. “We actually have imported genuine German sauerkraut, which we then garnish and spice in-house and serve up. We also have genuine Hoffbrau beer that is direct from Munich.”
While it seems a tad weird to be importing beer into B.C., with its wildly inventive and exploding craft beer scene, Buehrmann said that tradition dictates keeping things real at Oktoberfest. You won’t find your vegan, gluten-free sausage here.
“I think that everything is hip and exotic these days, and sometimes people just want to have something real, good quality and good value that isn’t so fancy,” he said. “With all these experimental craft beers, having some real German beer brewed to the Reinheitsgebot (German brewing purity law of 1516) with some great entertainment represents something of a genuine change.”
No Oktoberfest is complete without the entertainment.
“The unique way that the folk songs and the Schlager (easy pop
singalongs) entertainment in the background comes together and makes you celebrate is also a huge part,” he said.
“You have one or two beers and then you are hopping on the table to sing along and dance. You don’t get this in a disco with Top 40 or techno, and for Germans to get this trip back to the roots once a year is very good for us and those who join us.”
Booked for the three weekends are long-running live band the Continentals, the Schuhplattler dance troupe the Alpenplattlers, and a DJ mixing those classic Schlager hits well into the wee hours. By the end of the evening, partiers roll out full of pounds of meat, pints of beer and a workout’s worth of calorie-burning dancing, singing and hoisting. The club even imported in real beer hall benches for even greater authenticity. You get the sense that the Vancouver Alpen Club is on a cultural mission.
“Oktoberfest began small, for the members, and then it got big enough to move into B.C. Place in the ’80s and I hear it was really something,” he said. “But then it scaled back down to the Alpen Club again and has kept going strong. We reach our capacity of 340 every night.”
Since opening its doors in the unique Victoria Drive location in 1935, the Vancouver Alpen Club has served as a cultural centre for German-speaking immigrants. Besides its multiple meeting rooms, the facility operates a restaurant serving a full lunch and dinner menu. Annual membership numbers around 300 today, down from an all-time high of 2,000-plus.
This is a pretty standard experience of the region’s once-vibrant ethnic cultural centres. As the communities spread out across the region, it became harder to keep it concentrated around a specific meeting place.
Buehrmann said that the arrival of new, younger German-speaking immigrants to B.C. bodes well for keeping Oktoberfest and other events on the calendar hopping for years to come.
(7,000 litres) sounds like a ridiculous amount of beer, but it’s not when you consider how much food we are serving as well.
PATRICK BUEHRMANN, Vancouver Alpen Club general manager