The German Club celebrated Oktoberfest and hosted their first event of the school year Sept. 26.
According to Ashley Kibel, the Vice President of the German Club, Oktoberfest is a celebration, mostly celebrated in Germany, that usually starts around Sept. 17 or 18, and ends on the first Sunday of October. Traditionally, it is a very long celebration, lasting more than two weeks.
Kibel also stated that it was “originally celebrated during the wedding of King Ludwig I when he married [Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen].”
The holiday included commonfolk and royalty alike, and was originally celebrated outside at the field in front of King Ludwig I’s castle, in Munich in 1810. “Nowadays,” Kibel continued, “it’s celebrated with a lot of beer, carnival rides and games.”
Since this was a campus event, there was no beer present. Instead, other types of concessions were available, like root beer, pretzels and various types of wafers and chocolates.
At the Oktoberfest event, students watched part of “Sissi” from the 1955 German production of the film. Since there were no subtitles in that version, the club also showed Netflix’s “Sissi,” which not only included subtitles but also featured a more edgy and dramatic take on the film.
For Kibel, the choice to watch this particular film was obvious: because of how significant the movie was to her childhood.
Some future events that the German Club is planning this semester are a Gingerbread House Competition and a trip to the German Christmas Market in Essex County, N.J. in December. Similar to many other cultures, German culture prioritizes celebration, food, drink and relaxation, and German Club aims to share the celebration with our entire campus.
Michael Indovina is a senior majoring in studio art and English with a creative writing emphasis and minoring in theatre arts.
