MUNICH --  (MunichNOW Life) -- It's that time of the year again: All around Munich Dirndl and Lederhosen are being taken out of the closet, stores are starting the big Trachten (the traditional Bavarian dress) sale and tents are being planned. Yes, Oktoberfest time is coming closer and, of course, the most important part of Oktoberfest has to be considered also: the beer “glass” or to be precise, the Maßkrug, the all-important mug you drink your beer from at Oktoberfest.

You probably know the big, see-through glass ones you get most of the time, but there are other ones as well. These are the sturdy mugs made out of clay with a tin lid with a picture on it. Every year the city of Munich designs and presents their own Maßkrug with a Oktoberfest graphic and the year on it which you can buy for around €14 without the lid and €18 with the lid. Paying extra for the lid is a sensible thing to do since it will keep out the flies while drinking.

Toni Roiderer (Hacker-Festzelt) presents the new Maßkrug.
The mug designer Tita Gronemeyer explains the story of Franz Xaver Krenkl, whose portrait is seen on this year's mug.
On the cover of the legendary Oktoberfest host Richard Süßmeier is shown

Modt people do not realize that not only does the city present their Maßkrug every year but the tent owners also produce an annual mug and this more traditional and elaborate is sold for around €33 in the tents. Tita Gronemeyer designed this year’s mug and chose a very special story to be presented on the mug and the lid.

This year, if you choose to drink your beer from this special Wirtekrug (tent-keepers mug) you will see the picture of Franz Xaver Krenkl on the outside… Franz who? At this point, so the story goes, he is what you would call an Oktoberfest legend. As the tale is told, Hr. Krenkl was riding his wagon through the English Garden when he caught up with King Ludwig on his wagon.

It seems that Hr. Krenkl felt the King was going too slow and decided to pass, something he know was forbidden. To add insult to injury, he called out “Majestät, wer ko, der ko!” to the King in passing, which, loosely translated from the Bavarian means “I’m better than you!”. Of course, this famous sentence spread like wildfire through Munich as a testament to a brave soul that stood up to the King and got away with it.

The tin lid of the Maßkrug is decorated with the face of another Oktoberfest legend, Richard Süßmeier. He was the owner of the Ambrustschützen tent in 1984 and was famous for his parodies and jokes about Munich’s politicians. That year his victim of parody was Peter Gauweiler, a member of the city council, who was determined to keep all the tents clean of any illegal workers and other violations of the law. He was feared by the tent owners for taking extreme measures and when Süßmeier shouted “Gauweiler is watching you” he immediately paid the price for his joke. During the running Oktoberfest Gauweiler started an inspection through his tent, found workers without papers and forced Süßmeier to shut his tent down.

These two figures have inspired this year’s tent owners with their rebelliousness. After seeing the Maßkrug designed by the city a tent owner commented: “The city has the collectible mug, we have the much nicer one”.

Traditional annual mugs produced for the general public at each Oktoberfest -- munichFOTO