At the Oktoberfest, people like to show what they have and who they know. This applies to the common folk festival visitor as well as to politics, of course, especially on the opening day when tapping in the Schottenhamel. The Greens made a big splash and invited their federal chairwoman Ricarda Lang to the political balcony. The SPD wanted to counter it with its federal leader Lars Klingbeil, but the place remains empty. It is said that there were problems with the flight. But the Social Democrats have Dieter Reiter (SPD) as the mayor and thus the most important man of the day anyway. Without OB, no tapping and no beer.
The CSU, in turn, offers Prime Minister Söder, much more prominence is not possible anyway. After all, with Klaus Ernst, the left have a former federal chairman at the start. And the Austrians also sent an ex-Chancellor, who had to flee at home with little honor: Ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Despite the colorful mixture, it remains rather apolitically comfortable on the town hall balcony. “The Wiesn is a time of political peace,” says the Prime Minister, as he strengthens himself at table number one with Mayor Reiter after tapping on the balcony. Everyone is satisfied to happy that the Oktoberfest is taking place again despite the pandemic. The virus tends to play a role in the back of the mind, in response to inquiries and in subordinate clauses, but it is also present. “I can’t completely hide it, maybe just for a few hours,” says Mayor Reiter. “The incidence will go up after that. I hope we can get that under control like we did in the summer.”
For the Federal Chairwoman of the Greens, Ricarda Lang, it is the first Oktoberfest ever. It’s nice, she says, and adds: “full”. One notices that the desire for exuberance is great, “and I can understand that too”. The last time has been “very stressful” for many people. She is particularly pleased to see many Greens again on this day. However, the party leader does not give the impression that a beer tent is really her world – unlike, for example, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, who is sitting across from her at the table.
Meanwhile, the mayor of the Japanese city of Sapporo, Katsuhiro Akimoto, is celebrating a reunion with the Oktoberfest. He is one of those international guests at the tapping who, unlike the Austrian ex-Chancellor Kurz, are still in office. Akimoto was at the Wiesn five years ago, and according to his impression this year it was “even more lively and atmospheric” than back then, as his interpreter translates. This also applies to their own delegation, as far as dancing is concerned, they are at the forefront on the political balcony.
Dieter Reiter toasts with the delegation from Sapporo.
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa)
Akimoto has something else to celebrate besides Oktoberfest, namely the 50th anniversary of the twinning of Sapporo and Munich. There isn’t much time left for that, the plane is leaving for home on Saturday. But before that, the mayor drinks a Oktoberfest beer with the city councilors from Sapporo. His verdict: “very, very tasty”.
Diagonally opposite, at Mayor Reiter’s table and next to Ilse Aigner (CSU), President of the Landtag, is Amy Gutmann, who has been the US Ambassador to Germany since February. “So far I’ve only seen it on TV,” she says, “live is even more impressive.” The mood is “phenomenal”, especially after two years of Corona. She is not worried about the virus, it is now sufficiently under control. People needed to celebrate. If children, parents and grandparents do this together, it is “the best booster for our well-being”. Gutmann takes a sip from her mass. How strong is the beer? She can then say that later, says the ambassador and laughs.
Almost all politicians put the booster for well-being in the foreground. Mayor Reiter is also happy that after a hard internal struggle he finally allowed the Oktoberfest to take place again. “There were an incredible number of people on the side of the road in the modest weather. The mood is just afterwards. It will be just as crowded as ever,” he says. It was “very disappointing” that he needed three instead of the usual two hits to tap, he says with a laugh. “But I had a lot of training arrears and a headwind.”
Mayor Katrin Habenschaden (Greens) is also in a good mood. She thinks that the city and the spectators clearly saw what the city has to offer politically when the Oktoberfest landlords entered. “The first carriage on the train was an all-women carriage,” she says. Mayor Verena Dietl (SPD) and Wiesn City Councilor Anja Berger (Greens) sat in it with her. So much green-red women’s power at the head of an Oktoberfest procession, that’s new for political Munich after almost three years of Oktoberfest break.