What do foreigners think of first when asked to name something typically German? The Oktoberfest in Munich, right. Closely followed by Lederhosen, Dirndl, Sauerkraut and Bratwurst. Curiously enough, the associations with the country that gave the world Goethe, Schiller and the wonderful word “Zeitgeist” most often refer to not German, but rather Bavarian traditions.

This year’s Oktoberfest has come and gone, much to the chagrin of hops and malt lovers. The cloud has a silver lining though: The official post-”October party” statistics might make you grin…

- Beer consumption sadly declined by 300,000 liters. It dropped to 6.6 million liters of beer (due to cold and rainy weather).

- Instead, visitors asked for 2,000 liters of mulled wine (normally a Christmas market treat) and tried to smuggle 200,000 empty Mass liter glasses home as mementos…

- The number of oxen (may their souls rest in peace) eaten by the Oktoberfesters is the same as last year: exactly 104. No vegetarians there apparently.

- Most amusing is the lost and found register, though: According to an official spokesperson, 680 identity cards and passports, 410 wallets, 360 keys, 265 spectacles, 280 mobile phones and 80 cameras, one set of diving goggles (!), one set of angel’s wings, a superman costume, four wedding rings (how would you go about to lose that??) and a dachshund were discovered separated from their rightful owners. But, for the first time ever in Oktoberfest history, NOBODY lost their false teeth… The authorities are puzzled.

By the way, the clever Bavarians know how to cash in on these famous stereotypes. They simply don’t take themselves seriously:

Source: Spiegel online