Oktoberfest is the world's largest folk festival and beer fair, held every year in Munich. It began in October 1810 with the wedding celebrations of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, which ended with a horse race on a meadow outside the city gates. The meadow was named Theresienwiese, or Therese's Meadow, in her honour, and it is still the site of the festival. The event was repeated in the following years and grew into an annual fair with beer tents, rides and parades. It was later moved forward to September for better weather and runs for about two weeks into early October. Several million visitors attend, and it has been cancelled only in years of war, cholera and the pandemic.
Before and after
- from August 1810 to October 1813Tecumseh's War
- 10 August 1810Birth of Camillo Benso di Cavour
- from 16 September 1810 to 27 September 1821Mexican War of Independence
- 27 September 1810Battle of Bussaco
- 17 October 1810First edition of Oktoberfest
- 1811Discovery of iodine
- 1811Publication of Sense and Sensibility
- 1811Mary Anning finds the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton
- 5 March 1811Battle of Barrosa
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1830Publication of Book of Mormon
- 1890Rise of Art Nouveau
- c. 1900sRise of Expressionism
- 1909Rise of Futurism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.