It is not gold (nor birra) everything that glitters in the Oktoberfest. At least that is what they believe in Empire Oktoberfest , the German series, still in postproduction, which aims to become a kind of Babylon Berlin in southern Germany. The six chapters scheduled to date tell the story of two beer dynasties in Munich in the early twentieth century, with the emancipation of women, the class struggle, the rise of nationalism and imperialism as a backdrop.
With a cast headed by local stars like Misel Maticevic ( Dogs Of Berlin ) or Martina Gedeck , known for the Oscar-winning Life of Others "(2006), this historic drama of Westerly atmosphere is inspired by real characters, with the names modified in fiction, as well as those of companies, for legal reasons, a small stain on the untouched reputation of the event, a tourism giant that has celebrated its 186th edition this fall and that yesterday put its final finishing touch. Balance figures from the last edition, in 2018 it received six million visits and dispatched more than seven million liters of beer.
Filmed for two months in German studios and with a budget of more than 11 million euros , this public-private co-production (among others, Zeitsprung , Violet Pictures , Beta Film or state television ARD are involved , the same one that made Babylon Berlin possible ) traveled for another two additional months to Prague , where THE WORLD met with the cast and crew. So far, the rights of this fiction for Spain have not yet been sold to any chain or platform.
"Certain areas of Prague still maintain a somewhat decadent patina that Bavaria has long since lost, says Till Derenbach , one of the producers. There all the buildings are perfectly renovated. And that environment as of another era we were very interested in filming. In addition, the Czech Republic has an alcoholic tradition similar to ours, so it is easy to find old factories of this type where you can work. "
The script goes back to 1900. Munich is home to freethinkers, such as writer Thomas Mann or painter Wassily Kandinsky , and scientists, such as Albert Einstein or Wilhelm Röntgen . But also of political agitators like Trotsky or Lenin (one Adolf Hitler would arrive in the city somewhat later).
In these years, the Bavarian capital is one of the engines of the German economy, but that power depends on the breweries, which represent 30% of the city's GDP. The wealthy clans around this industry have maintained ultra-restrictive legislation around them for generations. When a new foreign tycoon disrupts that balance of power, a war between the different factions begins. The new player on the board of this succulent business is Georg Prank, known as The Crocodile . He is the owner of the largest brewer in Nuremberg and arrives in the city with one goal: he wants to obtain a license for Oktoberfest and, according to his megalomania, build a tent for more than 6,000 people.
Fiction or reality? Well, a little of each. "The main character, Prank, is based on a real businessman who arrived there from Nuremberg. He was a kind of pimp and restaurant owner and was the first person from outside who got a license to sell inside the festival, dodging the strict rules that they existed about it. " The speaker is the Finn Hannu Salonen , director of the series and a habitual name of Tatort , the classic policeman par excellence of the small German screen, sitting on a break from filming in the impressive set that they have raised outside Prague.
In fact, today, a brand based in Berlin or Cologne is still unable to open its own "franchise" there. "But in the series there are many dramatic licenses that belong to the world of fiction," Salonen continues. "This is not a documentary, but it does capture the spirit of the time. The Oktoberfest we know now has nothing to do with that of early twentieth century. In fact, it's almost the opposite. " Ronny Schalk , the main screenwriter, intervenes in the conversation: "Most of the characters are not even very well known in Germany, so we don't find too much information about them either. So the idea of doing something 100% based on real events it was ruled out soon, because there were many gaps that had to be filled with fiction. "
Schalk continues: "Around 1900 is when this event is transformed into a money-making machine . Before that date it was a popular party with shops for 300 people. From there, certain employers, through blackmail and corruption, were they were left with many of those small posts and built large barracks for 8,000 visitors , which are the ones that remain today. " At that time, the basic rule to be able to operate in the Oktoberfest was to have at least one square meter of the factory in Munich, but some magnates from outside the city skipped it, buying tiny factories in the area and importing the rest of the barrels from their original societies hundreds of kilometers away.
It refers mainly to Georg Lang , the potentate on which the character of Georg Prank is based, a type of the most egotistic (in the photos of the time you can see his tent full of posters illustrated with his own face) and I popularize the song, Eins, Zwei, Drei, G'suffa! , a kind of polka composed by composer Bernhard Dietrich. "It is also a time in which the current liberal model develops," says Salonen.
Around 1890 there were about 200 breweries based in the Bavarian capital. And 10 or 15 years later there were only 18 left. Today there are only six large groups, all integrated into multinational companies . All the others have been absorbed or disappeared. "
The first fair of this kind took place on October 12, 1810, the date of the marriage between Prince Louis I of Bavaria with Princess Teresa of Saxony-Hildburghausen . After the link, the citizens of the city were invited to the festivities celebrated at the Theresienwiese (also called Wiesn ), a field right next to the town wall. During the first bars of the twentieth century, the party, in addition to the classic breweries, also hosted freak shows like in the far west, with its exhibits (which today would be quite unpolitically correct) of dwarves, bearded women, African tribes or "cannibals" of the southern seas. "
In addition, those days of ethyl explosion also served to show the advances of the technique with its cinematographers, roller coasters and refrigerators . Each booth tried to attract clientele with the most modern that science made available. For example, the company of Albert Einstein's father was the first to electrify some parts of Oktoberfest. Even the young Einstein, in his time as a student, earned extra money at the orders of his father by placing light bulbs right there.
But at the dawn of the twentieth century the muniqués event was also known for the amount of prostitution that moved around it. "The waitresses, for example, did not have a salary and to earn some money they depended on tips and pay sex," Salonen explains. On the backs of the tents, sheds (with their cots) used to improvise for such carnal exchanges. "In 1890 the bohemian muniquesa was comparable with that of Paris - Schalk intervenes - there were Thomas Mann or Vasili Kandinski, who was the great pioneer of expressionism, although many people believe that this pictorial style has its roots in Berlin." These were the times of the legendary Schwabinger Bohème , which rivaled Montmartre.
Misel Maticevic, who plays Georg Prank in the leading role, spares no praise for the script. "It's incredibly good," he says, "so I didn't need much more extra information either. Although, to be honest, I've never been to Oktoberfest. And to be even more honest, I don't think I'll ever go. I'm of Croatian origin and this kind of party and that music doesn't go with our character, but the same thing happens with carnival. I hope they don't declare me "persona non grata" for saying this, although a little controversy never hurts, "he jokes. Seen as seen, more than a wéstern spaghetti , and in honor of the well-known pasta of southern Germany, Empire Oktoberfest would become a well-cooked western spätzle .
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