When is the strong beer tasting on the Nockherberg and the strong beer festival?
The strong beer season begins two weeks after Ash Wednesday. This year it fell on February 14th, which is why it exists Strong beer tasting on February 28ththe strong beer festival for the public begins on March 1st and lasts until March 24th, which is Palm Sunday.
Originally, “Josefi Day” is the deadline for the strong beer tasting – according to tradition, this should take place “around March 19th”. But this has proven to be impractical for breweries and restaurants – because the strong beer season is a Lent thing. But because Ash Wednesday – the beginning of which – and Easter – the end of which – are movable holidays, the duration of the strong beer festival would be different every year.
In 2024, Carnival and therefore Easter will be exceptionally early. In 2023, Good Friday fell on April 7th, this year it is more than a week earlier, namely on March 29th. So there were only ten days left if the festival would actually start on March 19th.
Where can I see the Derblecken and Singspiel on TV?
For the Bavarian Radio The Nockherberg spectacle is the ratings winner of the year. That’s why the broadcast is extended far beyond the actual duration of the Lenten sermon and the subsequent musical play: together they last around an hour, the BR begins at 19 o’clock and broadcasts including various preparatory and follow-up rounds until 12:30 a.m.
Who writes the Singspiel, who composes the music and who appears on stage as a political parody?
The team for text and music has been in place since 2018: The dialogues are written by Richard Oehmann and Stefan Betz, songs and intermediate music come from Tobias Weber.
Suddenly appeared in the Singspiel in a rubber dinghy in 2023: Angela Merkel (played by Antonia von Romatowski)
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
The Paulaner Brewery always keeps the cast of actors top secret – the current ensemble was only announced at a press conference on February 15th. Not much has changed – Markus Söder is played by Thomas Unger, Robert Habeck by Thomas Limpinsel, Dieter Reiter by Gerhard Wittmann, the other cast is also the same as last year.
Judith Toth will be seen in the new role as Bavarian Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber; theatergoers know her from the Bavarian State Theater and television viewers from the ARD series “At Home in the Mountains”. And then Natalie Hünig also plays, whose role the brewery is still keeping a secret. Hünig was seen as Saskia Esken on Nockherberg in 2020.
Who gives the Lenten sermon?
Maximilian Schafroth will give the Lenten sermon for the fourth time in 2024 – by the way, not in Brother Barnabas’s habit, but in a very civil manner in a checked shirt and traditional jacket.
Schafroth, the first Swabian to serve as a Lenten preacher, stands on broad shoulders: in 1780 the first ceremonial tapping of the Salvator was held in the Neudeck monastery in der Au. In 1806, Franz Xaver Zacherl leased the brewery and soon after introduced a public strong beer bar – always in April for eight days.
Soon the festivities will be entertained by comedians and singers. In 1891, the strong beer festival, which had long since moved from the Au to the Nockherberg, had its first speech: the popular folk singer Jakob “Papa” Geis entertained, as the chronicle says, an “extremely select audience of gentlemen”. He was followed in the 1920s and 1930s by Ferdinand Pilgeringer, known as Weiß Ferdl, whose lecture remained rather apolitical.
After the war, the speech was given by the actor Adolf Gondrell, the radio journalist Emil Vierlinger and the Roider Jackl, the famous Gstanzl singer. After further attempts with the cabaret artist Klaus Havenstein, the BR editor Franz Schönhuber – later founder of the party “The Republicans” – and the cartoonist Ernst Maria Lang, a duo that would later shape the style entered the stage in 1982: the journalist Hannes Burger wrote the texts, which was extremely… popular actor Walter Sedlmayr performs it. After Sedlmayr’s murder in 1990, Toni Berger, Max Grießer – he was the first to wear his brother Barnabas’ monk’s habit -, Erich Hallhuber and Gerd Fischer followed.
In 2004, what the BR itself calls “the arrival of the cabaret artists” begins: Bruno Jonas, Django Asül and Michael Lerchenberg bring a new tone to the stage – if only because they write their own texts. In 2011, exactly 120 years after the first Nockherberg speech, a bastion of Bavarian male dominance fell: Luise Kinseher was the first woman to be a Lenten preacher; she came onto the stage as “Mama Bavaria” – popular and successful until she announced her departure in 2018 and clears the lectern for Maxi Schafroth.
How many people come to the strong beer tasting?
The large hall at Nockherberg can accommodate 600 people – that’s how many are invited. They are guests of the brewery that evening, so no one can buy tickets for the event. The invitation is valid for one person at a time – only the mayor of Munich and the Bavarian prime minister are allowed to come accompanied, usually by their wife. That would also apply to the Federal Chancellor if he ever came.
How much does Mass Salvator beer cost?
The Paulaner monks received permission to serve their beer publicly from Elector Maximilian III. Joseph in 1751. The permission was only valid for one day, April 2nd – the feast day of the order’s founder, Francis of Paola. Therefore, the monks gave their brew the name “Saint Father Beer”. Over time, this name gave rise to the term “Salvator”.
In 2024 a measure of this will cost 14 euros, the year before it was 13.50 euros. For comparison: at Oktoberfest 2023, the standard price was between 12.60 euros and 14.90 euros.
Is the process otherwise the same as usual?
The strong beer tasting in 2024 is a big last time: Paulaner boss Andreas Steinfatt has been the face of the brewery on the Nockherberg since 2007; He has been with the company since 1995 and has been a member of the management board since 2006. Now he is leaving the company on February 29th, one day after the strong beer tasting – at his own request and in mutual appreciation, as they say.
For the last time, Steinfatt will hold the first mug of strong beer in his hands at the beginning of the event and hand it to the Bavarian Prime Minister with the words: “Salve pater patriae! Bibas, princeps optime!” – “Greetings, father of the fatherland! Drink, best prince!” The brewery announced that no further honors were planned for Andreas Steinfatt.