"O'zapft is!" – this shout accompanied tapping of the keg of beer and official opening of Oktoberfest, the celebration of which took place on October 10th, 2008 at the Baltic Barracks.
It has already become a well-established tradition that the German community of the Multinational Corps Northeast invites families and friends for a typically German festival Oktoberfest. Even though it is not organized on such a large scale like the original one in Bavaria, the spirit of fun and friendly atmosphere is at least comparable. It was the same this year. All the guests could have a feeling of Bavaria since decorations in blue and white, typical colours of Bavaria, were all around. The entrance to the gym proudly announced “Oktoberfest 2008”. Each of the participants received a cap in Bavarian colours and a mug for Bavarian beer, since this drink is naturally associated with Oktoberfest.
Master Sergeant Johannes Schafnitzel and MS Chris Hillebrand dressed in traditional clothes welcomed the guests and presented them some facts about Oktoberfest and Bavaria, for example they talked about so-called "Wolpertinger", which is a fictional animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria. It has body parts of various animals, like wings, antlers or fangs, and is often portrayed as a horned rabbit or a horned squirrel.
Brigadier General Josef Heinrichs, Chief of Staff of the Multinational Corps Northeast, delivered a speech, in which he welcomed all the guests and wished "interesting conversations, 'prost' drinking Bavarian beer and 'smacznego' eating traditional Bavarian food". Obviously, the culminating moment of the evening was tapping the keg of beer with a shout "O’zapft is!". This time it was Lieutenant General Zdzisław Goral, Commander of MNC NE, who had the privilege to tap it. This meant the real start of Oktoberfest. Afterwards, there was simply a lot of talking, laughter and dancing to the Bavarian type music played by the Band of the German Military Regional Command I from Neubrandenburg and other types of music as well. Everyone could also try traditional Bavarian food – white sausages, grilled chicken and many others, the taste of which was enriched by ‘compulsory’ beer.
It would not be a typical Oktoberfest without games, like holding a heavy mug full of beer. Not only real Bavarians could test their strength and endurance, but also people from other countries since the Corps is a real multinational family consisting of 10 nations already. A lot of attention also attracted a competition, which involved hammering nails into a tree stump.
The whole festival lasted till late evening hours and all the participants seemed to enjoy the atmosphere, music and simply the idea of incorporating national traditions on the Baltic Barracks ground.
