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Reflections and Anniversaries 1835, 1842, 1910 und 1935

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The first publications written about the history of Oktoberfest appear as early as 1812. Some of them are eye witness accounts, such as those by Anton Baumgartner (1769 – 1831), and some are compilations of older programs and reports. These documents primarily reflect the interest of Munich citizens to contemplate and celebrate their young national festival.

Especially because of its importance as a representative event of the royal house, the festivities of Oktoberfest grew increasingly lavish every year. The city and the ruling family took advantage of various anniversaries to present themselves. Among the festivities during the reign of Ludwig I (1786 – 1868), the celebrations of 1835 and 1842 stand-out in particular. The year 1835 saw the celebration of the silver anniversary of the king and queen and therefore the 25th anniversary of the first festival. In 1842, Ludwig's son and successor, Maximilian II (1811 – 1864) married . Both events were accompanied by splendid processions, which the lithographer Gustav Kraus (1804 - 1852) noted in detail.

To mark the anniversary in 1910, the city of Munich held the most magnificent festival of all. In accompaniement to the elaborate ceremonies, three official commemorative publications, as well as innumerable privately edited programs were printed. In 1935, 25 years later, the 125th anniversary served to promote the Nazi ideology.


Contents

Early Representations of Oktoberfest
The Anniversary Year 1835
The Royal Wedding 1842
The Anniversary Year 1910
The Anniversary Year 1935

 


Early Representations of Oktoberfest

The lawyer Anton Baumgartner (1761 - 1831) came from the same family as the Munich citizen Franz Baumgartner, who in 1810 provided the idea for the first race of Oktoberfest, which he subsequently won. Anton Baumgartner was, from 1799 until his dismissal in 1805, chief of police in Munich and in 1809 served as councillor of the city. He wrote numerous works, particularly descriptions of events in Munich and about the city's history. He wrote three illustrations of Oktoberfest, they are the earliest descriptions of the festivities. In addition to the official festival report from Andreas Dall'Armi of the 1810 Oktoberfest and the programs contained within it, Baumgartner offers the most important textual witness to the atmosphere at the early Oktoberfests.

The anonymously published book about the 1827 Oktoberfest mainly evaluates the programs and official reports from the Agricultural Society in Bavaria, and is limited to a summary of the material published there. A continuation of the work for the year 1827 was announced, but did not appear.

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Anton Baumgartner
Pictures and perceptions during  the Bavarian October National Festival in Munich.

Munich, 1812

 

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Anton Baumgartner
The October Festivities on the Theresienwiese by Munich from 1810 – 1820.
Also, the flight of Mrs. Wilhelmine Reichard.

Munich, (1820)

 

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Anton Baumgartner
The October Festivities on the Theresienwiese by Munich from 1820 to 1823.
Also: A description of the Ancient Silver Bavarian Regent's Medallion.

Munich, 1823

 

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Anonymous
Description of all the Oktoberfests in Munich since its inception.
Including: a complete description of all celebrations, as well as an Index of the prize winners for every year.

Munich, 1827

 

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The Anniversary Year 1835

In 1835 the royal couple, Ludwig I. (1786 - 1868) and Therese (1792 – 1854), celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. Correspondingly this was the 25th anniversary of both the Oktoberfest and the establishment of the agricultural society in bavaria. To properly commemorate these three anniversaries, this was the most lavishly celebrated Oktoberfest in history, the highlight of which was a great historical pageant on October 4, 1835. This Oktoberfest was recorded on 24 lithographs, created by the lithographer Gustav Kraus (1804 – 1852).

From the court, once again numerous memorial tribute poems and publications were issued. Among them all, a hebrew poem printed on (formerly white) silk stands out. Another anonymous poem, published in homage to the festival,  has been preserved at the Bavarian State Library in two versions: a normal print edition and a version with letters printed partially in gold and is enclosed by an ornately embossed gold cover.

As with the numerous anonymous poems created as homage to the wedding of the crown prince in 1810, it may be assumed that it was not entirely unknown, who at the court was prompting all these literary works.

In 1835 the agricultural society in Bavaria distinguished the anniversary year's report from reports of previous years through a special binding, and the city of Munich printed its first ever official Oktoberfest Commemorative Publication. The librarian Ulrich Destouches (1802 - 1863), who edited the "City Chronicle" since 1845, presented a systematic history of the first 24 Oktoberfests (in 1813 the festival was cancelled due to the war).

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The celebration of Central Agriculture or Oktoberfest 1835, simultaneously the double anniversary: Namely the 25 year existence of the Agricultural Association and the Central Agriculture or rather Oktoberfest 1835.
Munich, 1835

 

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Ulrich von Destouches
Memorial Book of October Festivals in Munich from 1810 to 1835
Published on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Event.

Munich, 1835

 

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Gustav Wilhelm Kraus
Procession to celebrate the I.I.M.M. marriage of King Ludwig and Queen Therese of Munich am on
October 4th 1835.

Munich, 1835

 

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Franz von Künsberg
Panorama of the great, king-size creations of king Ludwig I of Bavaria, which express the honour and happiness of the people.
An attempt to assemble the most important moments in the 10 year blessed reign. As a glorification of october 12th, at the most magnificent 25 year wedding celebration of their royal highnesses.

Munich, 1835

 

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Αναστασιου Γεωργιαδου Λευκιου

[Anastasios Geōrgiadēs-Leukias]

Κατα την εν Αθηναις γενομενην τη ΙΒʹ. οκτωμβριου (Ν.Ε.)

εορτην, χαριν της εν ημισεια πεντηκονταετηριδη απο του ιερου γαμου ευτυχους συμβιωσεως.

Του γαληνοτατου και κραταιοτατου Βασιλεως της Βαυαριας.
Λουδοβικου του Αʹ.

Και της γαληνοτατης Βασιλισσης Θειρεσίας.

[It is celebrated in Athens, October 12th (New Era), the festival for the benefit of half of the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of his Highness, the mighty King of Bavaria, Ludwig I and his Serene Queen Theiresias.]

Athen, 1835

 

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Leopold Lechner
The hymn of the feast of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of their royal majesties Ludwig and Therese of bavaria's marriage in
october 1835.

Munich, 1835

 

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Benedikt Mainer
Hymn to the high celebration of their Majesties
of Bavaria, King Ludwig and Queen Therese's
silver wedding on October 12, 1835.

S.L., 1835

 

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Anonymous
Hymn to the high celebration of their Majesties of Bavaria, King Ludwig and Queen Therese's silver wedding on October 12, 1835.

S.L., 1835

 

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Anonymous
Hymn to the high celebration of their Majesties of Bavaria, King Ludwig and Queen Therese's silver wedding on October 12, 1835.
(Version with gold leaf embossing and printing)

S.L., 1835

 

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The Royal Wedding 1842

On October 12, 1842, on the anniversary of his parents wedding , the Crown Prince Maximilian of Bavaria (1811 - 1864) married the Prussian Princess Marie Friederike (1825 - 1889). This event was reflected at the Oktoberfest. In celebration of the wedding, four days later, 35 couples from all counties of Bavaria were married in Munich. In festive clothing they made a procession before the king at his pavilion at Oktoberfest.

In addition to the official festival program for the entire festival, another program and a group of three lithographs from the artist Gustav Kraus (1804 – 1852) documented the pageant of the bridal couples as the central event of the festival. The commemorative book published in that year by F. Rudolph focussed mainly on the history of Oktoberfest as a whole, but also focused in detail on the group wedding. Even the clothing of the individual couples is described in great detail.

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Anonymous
Program for the Oktoberfest at the Theresien-Wiese on October 16, 1842.

[Munich], [1842]

 

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Anonymous
Program of the wedding held on October 16th, 1842 for the thirty-five couples from the eight governmental districts of the kingdom of Bavaria, and the procession in front of their Royal Majesties, the most high and high gentlemen at the Theresienwiese.

[Munich], [1842]

 

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Gustav Wilhelm Kraus
Procession of 35 wedding couples as they process in front of the kings pavilion at the Oktoberfest in Munich on October 16th, 1842.

Munich 1842

 

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F. Rudolph
The national festivities in Munich, their creation and continuation, including this year.
[Title page] Munich's Oktoberfests. A memorial book for the Bavarian Nation, dedicated to the occasion of the marriage of his Royal Majesty the Crown Prince of Bavaria.

Munich, 1842

 

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The Anniversary Year 1910

The 75th anniversary of the Oktoberfest celebration in 1885, though elaborate, was celebrated less prominently. In 1910, the city of Munich took the occasion of its 100th anniversary to celebrate the festival more lavishly than ever before or since. In addition to the elaborate festivities and historical stage settings, a large historical exhibition and a parade were held.

The archivist, city chronicler, historian, and founder of the Munich City Museum, Ernst von Destouches (1843 - 1916) not only organized the exhibition, but also put together the festival publication. This appeared in 1910 in two editions: a particularly detailed and beautifully made secular edition, of which only a few copies were distributed to select individuals, and a greatly streamlined popular edition published for the masses. Additional texts from many Bavarian writers, like Joseph Ruederer (1861 - 1915), Benno Joseph Sailer (1866 - 1933) or Ludwig Thoma (1867 - 1921) were added to the popular edition. Two years later a third edition appeared, a less streamlined version of the great secular chronicle.

In 1910, various private publishers' anniversary booklets and newspapers were printed in competition with the official commemorative publications. The Oktoberfest newspaper from Benno Joseph Sailer became a kind of semi-official publication. Another, published by E. Stahl, was even published in a second edition.

The richly illustrated Oktoberfest letter from the Cosma company represents numerous other souvenirs and gifts, which were sold on the occasion of the anniversary in 1910.

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Ernst von Destouches
Secular chronic of the Munich Oktoberfest (Central Agricultural Festival) 1810 - 1910. Commemorative  publication to the centenary anniversary.

Munich, 1910

 

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Das Münchener Oktoberfest (Zentral-Landwirtschafts-Fest) 1810 - 1910.

Ernst von Destouches
The Munich Oktoberfest (Central Agricultural Festival)  1810 - 1910.  Memorial publication to the centenary anniversary, published with the cooperation of bavarian authors.

Munich, 1910

This work could not be digitised due to copyright.

 

Search for the work in the Library Network of Bavaria

 

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Ernst von Destouches
The centenary anniversary of the Munich Oktoberfest (Central-Agricultural-Fest).
Memorial publication.

Munich, 1912

 

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Josef Benno Sailer [Ed.]
Anniversary Oktoberfest newspaper Munich 1810 - 1910.

Munich, 1910

 

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Heinrich Scheiber [Ed.]
Anniversary Oktoberfest 1810-1910.The Oktoberfest and the agricultural exhibition in Munich.
(H. Scheiber's illustrated Oktoberfest Guide)

 

Munich, 1910

 

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Emil Stahl [Ed.]
The Oktoberfest 1910.
A retrospective on the 100 year existence of the Oktoberfest.
Funny and serious moments from a hundred years of the Oktoberfest.

Munich, 1910

 

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Emil Stahl [Ed.]
The Oktoberfest in Munich in early and modern times.
Historical funny sketches for foreigners and natives. With many illustrations.
The program covers the entire fest from the 17th of September until the 2nd of October, as well as the parade from the 8 counties at this year's centenary celebration.
2nd. Edition.

Munich, 1910

 

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Anniversary Oktoberfest letter 1810 – 1910.

Munich, 1910

 

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The Anniversary Year 1935

In 1935, two years after the Nazis' seized power, the 125th anniversary of Oktoberfest was celebrated. The Nazis established the festivities under the theme "Proud City - Cheerful Country" and tried to reinterpret the history of the festival to coincide with their ideology. Unlike in 1910, the anniversary commemorative exhibition and the detailed commemorative publication of 1935 differs only slightly in format and content from the "normal" Oktoberfest programs of other years.

The program of the parade, the oldest such program that exclusively describes the parade, is in the possession of the Bavarian State Library. It documents the exact composition of the marching groups. For the first time the marksmen and costume groups were no longer divided into two separate parades, but combined into one parade, with one section following the other. Between the two groups came a historical section, which demonstratively tried to downplay the importance of the monarchy for the Oktoberfest as much as possible. Distributed between the various delegations marched various Nazi organizations. Ever since this time, costume and marksmen's clubs form a joint parade at the beginning of Oktoberfest.

The official publications do not contain a large amount of Nazi symbols. However, while the commemorative publication displays only a tiny swastika flag, the cover of the privately published Oktoberfest program reveals the actual conditions of 1935 more clearly. The Nazi symbolism was already heavily apparent at the Theresienwiese. In 1936 it was officially forbidden to hoist the colours of Bavaria or of Munich at the Oktoberfest.

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Rolf Flügel [Ed.]
125 year of Munich Oktoberfest 1810-1935. Commemorative publication

Munich, 1935

 

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N. Baumgärtner [Ed.]
Proud City - Cheerful Country
Anniversary Oktoberfest parade 1935.
[Title Page] 125 years of Munich Oktoberfest.
Parade program.

Munich, 1935

 

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Rudi Scheidler [Ed.]
Rudi Scheidler's Municher Oktoberfest program.
16th year (Anniversary Edition) September 1935.

Munich, 1935, 1935

 

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