Hallo Mr. Steinberg, how are you?

Yes, excellent, how could I feel bad? We’re not even halfway through. I have to feel good,
I’m still satisfied. I’m satisfied, everything’s fine.

Mr. Steinberg, today is, I believe, the wildest day of Oktoberfest ever!

It’s not the most important day for me. Of course, every day is important to me, but it is the most intense day.
For decades, the middle Saturday has always been the busiest day, when most people have time
and go to Oktoberfest.

How long has the family tradition with its festival tent been around?

For us, for my family?

My wife and I went to Oktoberfest for the first time in 1980. Actually, I had already been to Oktoberfest for
the first time in 1970.
Back then, the Wienerwald company still existed, and they had a tent that I managed for ten years.
Now, since 1980, we have been managing the Hofbräu tent, which is one of the largest tents.

It’s really cozy at your place, and you’ve hung up lots of hop cones. It smells so good.

That was about 40 years ago, more or less, and it was my idea. We wanted to bring a bit of nature into the tent
and not just artificial flags and so on, but nature, and what goes better together than hops and beer?!
So I found a hop farmer from the Hallertau region.

Every year, he leaves 1,200 vines in the field, and then a week before Oktoberfest, they are cut down,
or chopped down, I should say, taken to Munich, and then hung up here a weekend before the Wiesn
begins.

So 1,200 vines, actually an entire hop field, is hanging here in the tent.

Wow, that’s really great, it’s a wonderful idea.

It’s natural, it’s hops. It’s natural, you can’t smell it anymore today, but for the first 3-4 days, it smells like hops
all the time.
Of course, the smell fades away, and the hops have also been impregnated to make them fireproof.
That’s also important, so that nothing can happen, as it gets drier over time.
That’s why we have to be careful with the hops, because they’re very flammable.

Yes, safety is important.Nothing can go wrong that way, and it’s also approved. That’s how we do it now.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Mr. Steinberg, what are your highlights at Oktoberfest? Is that the best thing for you?

Now that I think about it, I could probably write half a book about it, but there are of course two highlights:
the first day of Oktoberfest and the last day.

On the first day, when they rode through the whole city in a carriage. People cheered them on,
and when the weather is nice, everyone looks forward to Oktoberfest, and then they arrive at the tent,
get out, and there are 250 waitresses standing at the entrance, waiting for you, that is, for my wife and me.
Then we walk past the 250 waitresses.

Everyone is happy and beaming.

And then the music starts playing and there are 10,000 guests here in the tent and 20,000 eyes looking at you,
waiting for the first beer to be served. Those are the kind of moments you never forget. It always sends a chill
down my spine.
And the second thing is the last day, when almost all of the guests we have in the tent get sparklers.
We light them when the festival comes to an end. The Bavarian anthem is played and then the whole festival ends
with these 10,000 sparklers.
You can imagine what the atmosphere is like here, what a wonderful atmosphere. These are the things
that, thank God, happen every year at the Wiesn, these are the highlights.

Oh yes, that touches my heart, it’s so beautiful.

And what are the biggest challenges here when you organize everything until the Wiesn finally gets underway?

Yes, you know, you have to imagine that Oktoberfest is coming to an end and everything is winding down to zero.
It’s like starting a company from scratch.

By Christmas, you have a rough idea of where you stand, you’ve paid all your bills, etc., and everything is taken care of.
Then there are two quiet months, and in February it all starts again.
Then you have to slowly build up again from zero, to be at 100 in September.

So you have to make new contracts with employees, find new suppliers, although it’s usually the same ones.
You have to make new contracts. You just have to start from scratch again and build everything up.
And that’s the same challenge every year, and I’ve been doing it for 44 years now.

That’s great, sensational, sensational!

Mr. Steinberg, thank you very much for taking the time for me today and for the lovely interview.
I wish you a wonderful Oktoberfest, lots of nice guests, and lots of fun.

Thank you very much, it was nice of you to interview me, and I hope you are enjoying your time with us in the tent.

Yes, very, very well!

Thank you!

All the best and thank you very much!

Warm regards, Susanne Panhans