A royal wedding sparked the first Oktoberfest
On this day · 12 October 1810
The wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on October 12, 1810 began the festivities that grew into Oktoberfest.
On October 12, 1810, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, and the city of Munich threw itself a party. Days of public celebration followed, climaxing five days later in a grand horse race held on October 17 on a meadow outside the city walls.
That field was christened the Theresienwiese, “Therese’s Meadow,” after the bride, and Münchners still shorten it to the Wiesn today. Tens of thousands turned out to watch.
The race was such a hit that the city resolved to do it all again the next year.
Repeated annually and soon paired with an agricultural fair, the celebration hardened into tradition. Munich’s council took control in 1819 and made it a fixture. From a single wedding grew the world’s largest folk festival, eventually shifted earlier into warmer September weather while keeping its autumnal name.
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