Some climb out of the tent in leather pants and are ready for their first beer, others do yoga on the meadow, some are just checking in. Electronic music is playing. Gray, white and blue tents stand just a few centimeters apart at the Thalkirchen campsite. The receptionist estimates there are around 700 of them. And there will be more.
The area reserved specifically for Oktoberfest guests is four times larger than it was a year ago. For 40 euros per night you can get a place to sleep, which is just 25 minutes by subway from Theresienwiese. A bargain compared to a hotel room, which can cost ten times as much or more. The promise: The more money you save on accommodation, the more you can spend on beer. The target group: young backpackers with a small budget. But what is the price for this – shouting drunks, little space, dirty showers?
At 1 p.m. on weekdays there is little going on here. The campsite is not fully booked and it only gets really crowded at the weekend. Gez Monteith is already wearing his leather pants. The 24-year-old comes from Australia and is visiting the Oktoberfest for the first time. He and his friend are traveling through Europe for ten months, staying in Munich for three nights. He thinks the campsite is great because it is so cheap. The first thing he does every morning when he gets up is go swimming in the Isar, which winds past the campsite.
Mainly young people stay here; he estimates 18 to 25 year olds. And it feels like 80 percent are Australians. After the corona pandemic, many of them are moving abroad.
Gez Monteith (middle) and his friend Max Wilson met Adam Welsh (left) – also an Australian – at the campsite.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
A DJ plays every night in the mini beer garden next to the reception: “It’s a party that I haven’t seen the end of yet,” says Monteith. Nevertheless, the campsite is a place where you don’t want to spend more time than necessary. The breakfast that you can buy here is rather horrible and they have heard that people have broken into other people’s tents.
The Thalkirchen campsite cooperates with various international companies that only pitch their tents here during the Oktoberfest. Depending on the provider, a night costs between 40 and 65 euros per person. The price includes sleeping mats and sleeping bags. Companies like “Lost Souls” or “Hangover Hospital” travel around the world and provide cheap camping accommodation at events such as the Carnival in Rio, World Championships or the bullfight in Pamplona. Only English is spoken here.
Cameron Clark, also Australian, tries on leather trousers. It’s far too big for him in some places and too narrow in others. Too long anyway, and made of polyester, not leather. In the Lost Souls reception tent, guests can rent a traditional costume for 20 euros per day. The stand is signposted “Costume Shop”, costume rental. Next to Clark there are half-empty red cocktails and a few beer bottles on beer tables. Here you can also buy “shit tickets” – a few sheets of toilet paper. There is an orange funnel hanging on the wall at the back. Harald Shipman works for the Lost Souls and summarizes: “Drunken tourism” – people come to party.
Cameron Clark tries on leather pants. The Australian is visiting the Oktoberfest for the first time.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Clark expects from the Oktoberfest: “A lot of energy, a lot of beer. Singing, hugging, sausages and schnitzel.” The 22-year-old says Oktoberfest is on many Australians’ bucket lists and coming to Europe is a big deal.
Elin Wolfram comes from Canada, she is here with her brother. The 19-year-old would definitely book the campsite again, she says, it just doesn’t get any cheaper. Even if the nights are very cold and the tents heat up a lot in the morning.
Elin Wolfram in her borrowed costume.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
At Hangover Hospital there are dormitories with ten beds each.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
At the Hangover Hospital, visitors do not sleep on sleeping mats, but in bunk beds. The operator doesn’t allow photos of the inside, the mattresses look thin and worn out, and there doesn’t seem to be any bed linen. The motto is “sexy nurse” and the logo features a curvy woman in fishnet stockings. You don’t see any women here.
There are only a few recent reviews on various booking websites. They either praise the atmosphere and the price with full marks or complain that you have to pay extra for the showers and that the staff are too hungover to be helpful. The most common thing you read about is how dirty the bathrooms are: “The sanitary facilities are substandard,” writes one guest. This cannot be checked; the toilets are locked in the morning and are probably cleaned.
Many visitors only stay for two or three nights, with the aim of spending the majority of this time on Theresienwiese. Nobody here seems to have money for a hotel bed. After all: hanging out on the Isar is a real luxury.