The tradition of beer drinking, accompanied by hearty meats, began with the marriage of the Bavarian Crown Prince Louis to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. Like the later Royal Weddings of England, this one was a public affair, including horse races and various festivities. The royals decided to make it an annual event, creating the Oktoberfest tradition that transforms Munich every autumn.

On this day, October 12, in 1810, the first Oktoberfest celebration took place, in a region of the princess’s lands called the Theresienwiese — “Therese’s fields” (commonly shortened to Weis’n).

Traditionally the Oktoberfest festivities take place over the sixteen days leading up to the first Sunday in October, but that was changed in 1990 when East and West Germany reunited, creating a new holiday (German Unity Day) on October 3. Worked into the Oktoberfest festival, Reunification Day now marks the end of the festival if it comes after the first Sunday of October.