Corona, inflation, concerns about high energy prices: this year there were a number of reasons not to go to the Oktoberfest and drink a beer for an average of more than 13 euros - and then there was the bad weather.

Julia Anton

Editor in the “Society & Style” department.

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The balance of Wiesn boss Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU) was positive on the last day of the festival, despite the decline in visitor numbers.

"The Wiesn, it's back.

That's the core message," he said at a press conference on the festival grounds on Monday afternoon.

According to this, 5.7 million people visited the Oktoberfest in 2022 – in 2019 it was 6.3 million.

Many guests came from Great Britain and the USA in particular, but “an incredible number of Munich residents” also came.

According to Baumgärtner, anyone who was looking for “fun and freedom” at the Oktoberfest found it there.

But one would have wished for more guests for the showmen and beer gardens.

As the number of visitors decreased, so did the consumption of beer.

With 5.6 million liters, 1.7 million fewer were served than in the pre-Corona year 2019. The demand for mulled wine, which was allowed to be sold at the ice cream stands due to the wet and cold weather, was also “moderate”.

But regional, vegetarian and organic products were more in demand, said Baumgärtner: "The Kasspatzen outperform the roast pork." As expected, the most popular song was the controversial hit "Layla".

Fewer assaults, more pickpocketing

Andreas Franken from the Munich Police Headquarters was also "very satisfied".

The number of operations was lower than in 2019, even if the number of total offenses remained the same.

Franken attributed this primarily to an increase in pickpocketing.

However, the number of assault offenses fell by 12.5 percent, and significantly fewer people had to be taken into custody.

At 55, the number of sexual offenses was almost as high as at the previous Wiesn, and three cases were being investigated for rape.

The fire brigade and medical service also reported that the Wiesn was quiet, and the number of calls by the paramedics even fell by 27 percent.

With regard to Corona, "contrary to all prophecies of doom", there were no mass failures among the staff, according to Baumgärtner.

"We are glad that we were able to have a Wiesn 2022." The police counted 30 sick colleagues, the medical service eleven.

In the city of Munich, however, the seven-day incidence has risen significantly: on Saturday it was 834.3, at the beginning of the festival a good two weeks ago it was just under 200.