What began as a Bavarian royal wedding celebration in 1810 became Oktoberfest, an annual tradition that would grow into one of the world’s most recognizable festivals.
THE UNIVERSAL RECORD
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Brad Socha | October 12, 2026 | 10:11 AM EST
Featured image: The first Oktoberfest horse race at Munich’s Theresienwiese on October 17, 1810. Painting by Wilhelm von Kobell, 1811. Collection of the Münchner Stadtmuseum. Public domain
On October 12, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in Munich, beginning celebrations that would give rise to Oktoberfest, the German festival now known around the world for its beer tents, traditional music and enormous crowds.
The original event, however, looked remarkably different from the festival visitors recognize today.
There were no giant beer tents, elaborate fairground rides or ceremonial keg-tapping traditions. Instead, the royal wedding was celebrated with public festivities that culminated five days later, on October 17, in a horse race outside Munich’s city gates.
The decision to repeat that race the following year established a tradition that would gradually evolve into an enduring part of Bavarian cultural life.
More than two centuries later, the celebration continues on the same historic grounds, preserving a connection to a royal marriage that few modern visitors may realize started it all.
How a Royal Wedding Created Oktoberfest
In 1810, Bavaria was a relatively young kingdom, having gained that status in 1806 during the Napoleonic era.
The marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig, the future King Ludwig I, to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen was an important occasion for the royal family and the kingdom.
Rather than restrict the celebrations to court ceremonies, the festivities included the wider population of Munich.
A central figure in the event’s development was Andreas Michael Dall’Armi, a banker and officer in the Bavarian National Guard. He proposed organizing a public horse race in honour of the newly married couple.
The proposal received the approval of King Maximilian I Joseph, Ludwig’s father.
The wedding took place on October 12, followed by several days of festivities in Munich. The celebrations concluded on October 17 with horse races on an open meadow beyond the city’s gates.
Members of the royal family attended, while children wearing traditional Bavarian clothing presented poems, flowers and agricultural produce.
The gathering combined royal ceremony with public entertainment, bringing people together in a setting that differed from the more exclusive traditions of court life.
The meadow was named Theresienwiese, meaning Therese’s Meadow, in honour of the bride.
That name remains attached to the festival grounds today. Munich residents commonly shorten it to Wiesn, a local term that has become almost synonymous with Oktoberfest itself.
Although the wedding took place on October 12, the horse race on October 17 is generally regarded as the beginning of the Oktoberfest tradition.
The distinction matters because the festival did not emerge fully formed on the wedding day. Its lasting identity developed through the decision to repeat a successful public celebration.
The event’s popularity encouraged organizers to hold another gathering in 1811, establishing the foundation for an annual festival.
From Horse Races to a Bavarian Tradition
The second celebration in 1811 expanded beyond horse racing to include an agricultural exhibition.
Organized to promote Bavarian farming, the exhibition allowed agricultural achievements to be presented to a wider audience. It introduced an economic and educational dimension alongside the festival’s entertainment.
This agricultural connection reflected the importance of farming to Bavarian society in the early nineteenth century.
Over the following decades, Oktoberfest continued to change.
The festival was cancelled in 1813 because of the Napoleonic Wars, demonstrating that its early development was not uninterrupted.
In 1818, a carousel and two swings appeared, helping establish the fairground attractions that would become a familiar part of the event.
Munich’s municipal authorities assumed responsibility for organizing the festival in 1819, giving it a more permanent civic structure.
Beer gradually became increasingly prominent, but the enormous festival tents associated with modern Oktoberfest were later developments.
By the late nineteenth century, larger beer halls and tents had begun replacing smaller drinking establishments and stands, accommodating the growing crowds.
The festival also developed customs that remain recognizable today, including traditional clothing, music, food and gatherings centred on Munich’s brewing culture.
The original horse races continued for many years but were eventually discontinued after 1938.
Other traditions were introduced much later. The familiar ceremony in which Munich’s mayor opens Oktoberfest by tapping the first beer barrel began in 1950.
Even the festival’s calendar changed.
Although its name refers to October, Oktoberfest increasingly shifted into September to take advantage of generally milder weather. The move toward a September opening became established in the nineteenth century.
Today, the event normally begins in September and concludes in early October.
Despite these changes, its location remains one of the strongest connections to its origins.
Theresienwiese, once an open meadow beyond Munich’s city gates, is now surrounded by the modern city. During Oktoberfest, the grounds accommodate large beer tents, amusement rides, food vendors and visitors from around the world.
The festival has also become closely associated with Bavarian cultural identity, even as its international reputation has expanded far beyond Germany.
Its history illustrates how public celebrations can acquire meanings and traditions that their original organizers could scarcely have anticipated.
The royal wedding of October 12, 1810, was a single event in Bavarian history. The horse race held five days later turned that occasion into a public gathering worth repeating.
Through generations of adaptation, that gathering became Oktoberfest.
What began as a celebration honouring two newlyweds ultimately developed into a tradition sustained not by the monarchy that inspired it, but by the city and the people who continued to celebrate it.
Sources:
City of Munich — A Foray Through the History of the Wiesn (Official Historical Publication, 2023)
https://stadt.muenchen.de/dam/jcr%3Aacc9595b-4675-471e-bfba-35cf2dd7569a/oktoberfest-munich-history.pdf
City of Munich — Streifzug durch die Geschichte (Official Historical Publication, 2025, German)
https://stadt.muenchen.de/dam/jcr%3A6a680442-4da3-47be-ad7b-1b654ec4ef0e/oktoberfest-historisch.pdf
Oktoberfest.de — The History of Oktoberfest
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/magazine/tradition/the-history-of-oktoberfest
Munich Official City Portal — The History of Oktoberfest in Munich
https://www.muenchen.de/en/events/oktoberfest/history-oktoberfest-munich
City of Munich — A Chronological Overview of Munich’s History (German)
https://stadt.muenchen.de/infos/stadtgeschichte.html
Oktoberfest.de — History of Theresienwiese
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/information/getting-there/where-is-the-oktoberfest
About the Author
Brad Socha is the founder of The Universal Record, focused on sourced, factual global reporting. Coverage includes international news, geopolitics, technology, and major developments.