Viewed from a somewhat safer distance, for example from Berlin, the Wiesn appears like a hidden object full of maniacs, a questionable mixture of beer and brass band music that should not be allowed to simmer unattended. Luckily that doesn’t happen either. The police are always on site.
At the Wiesn three years ago, the officials recorded 914 crimes, and there have already been a few bad incidents this year. But in between, the Munich emergency services also allow themselves a little fun, under the hashtag #Wiesnschmankerl to let the Twitter followers participate in the not so serious or at least seriously bizarre missions.
For example, when the hungry party people bite properly, but their teeth don’t hit half a chicken or a vegan white sausage with their teeth, as I’m sure they intended, but the hand of an employee – who of course doesn’t like it at all.
Speaking of hands, this year all sorts of thieves are among the Wiesn visitors. When the bar staff was apparently not looking, one wanted to tap the beer himself and secretly leave the field with it. But nothing there.
However, according to the official tweets, mobile phones seem to be among the most coveted stolen goods, probably because they are easier and more inconspicuous to take out than full beer mugs. Still, even here, not all crooks are clever.
Sometimes all the victim needs to do to clear up the crime is a call to his own phone and a criminal at the other end of the line who is a little too sure of himself.
Some petty criminals are so unlucky that you almost want to feel sorry for them. Then the poor thief unsuspectingly grabs the pocket of an inconspicuous passer-by – and ends up with a professional in civilian clothes (or in lederhosen) of all people.
As an outsider, one can quickly mistake the Oktoberfest – in a completely unfair way – for a huge party of extraterrestrials: none of them look like they are from this world, they don’t speak like they are from this world, but they have something to celebrate. Your landing in Munich? Viewed from a distance, the Theresienwiese appears to be a kind of Area 51 for life outside of High Germany.
And so it’s not surprising when you learn that the police here actually have to deal with sightings of unidentified flying objects from time to time.
However, some UFOs turn out to be just another mobile phone that has snapped off its owner with a flourish.
Anyway, all sorts of unpleasant things are buzzing through the air on the Theresienwiese: loud music, a bad smell, too much rain, some viruses, cell phones. But sometimes good things come from above. A stray parakeet, for example, who would be very happy to have friends and helpers in this apparently bird-free environment.
This year’s Oktoberfest has found an unofficial mascot, and at least hundreds of users on Twitter like the green birdie whose picture the police posted online.
Or was it some kind of public manhunt? What is the fault of the poultry? In any case, one Twitter user is suspicious of the attention that the police are giving the parakeet. “Now it’s the bird’s turn”, he asks“because of immoral behavior?”