Lauren Bayer, Pitt in Munich Summer 2023
In Munich, there are six original Hofbräuhäuser, which are the pride and joy of the yearly Oktoberfest. This event started in 1810 when Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen and invited all the townspeople to celebrate the marriage with dancing, food and drink, which ended up lasting 16 days. Now, it is still celebrated every year and only these 6 original breweries are allowed to sell there! You can see them in the Maibaum in Viktualienmarkt: a cute market with different food and drink vendors!
Here is a picture of me with some local bavarians in Dirndls and Lederhosen at the Biergarten on Theresienwiese for the Frühlingsfest, where they host the annual Oktoberfest!
Also while you are here, you have to try a Bratwurst at least once! Especially in places like the Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz, these delicious sandwiches are so snappy and full of flavor.
One of the best things that Bavaria has to offer is the traditional food and drinks! One dish that I thoroughly enjoy is the Schweinshaxe or pork knuckle; it is about as big as my head and traditionally comes with a thin savory sauce that I had twice as a dark beer sauce. The skin is incredibly crispy and thick, and the meat is tender and fatty. Every time I have had it, I also get a side of kartofel-knudeln and Saur-Salat, which both add texture and flavor! Have a look at this picture from one of the original Hofbraeu houses from here in Munich and tell me you aren’t drooling.
To pair perfectly with the Haxe is a nice cold Bavarian Lager beer. There is a reason Munich has world renowned breweries, because they do it so well! Here you can see a dark Lager from one of the original Hofbräuhäuser, Augustiner-Bräu.
On weekdays, in between classes, we would normally stop by the local döner shop on the corner next to the Goethe Institut. My go-to order was a döner brot with chicken which you can see in the picture below. Turkish shops are culturally significant to Germany because of the Turkish diaspora that migrated to Germany in the 60’s as guest workers to help with the German economic boom. The mistreatment, racism and violence against these Turkish families by the German population in the late 1900’s has only recently been recognized and local shops like this is one way that these families are able to assimilate into German culture.
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