The Beer and Oktoberfest Museum
The history of beer-fueled coziness
Across three floors, dive into Munich’s brewing culture. Take a journey through history – from ancient Egypt, through the beginnings of Bavarian brewing in the early Middle Ages, to the rise of beer as a key economic factor in Munich around 1900, and into the present-day ‘Capital of Beer.’ Learn about beer steins, wooden barrels, and beer gardens, and discover why we owe the invention of the refrigerator to Munich’s breweries.
The exhibition
Beer culture & festival tent fun
The "Stairway to Heaven" leads up to the 4th floor, where the basics of brewing and the advantages of Munich as a beer city are explained.
A timeline guides visitors through 5,000 years of beer culture to the third floor, which is dedicated to the Purity Law, the Munich Brewers' Guild and the history of the Keferloher Masskrug, as well as the beginning of the longing for beer in the 19th century.
On the second floor, the great success story of Munich beer awaits, with its beer barons, innovations, and development into a global phenomenon. Alongside the major breweries, Oktoberfest is the second major pillar of Munich's beer culture. All other rooms on the second floor are dedicated to the world's largest folk festival, its attractions, curiosities, and records.
After the exhibition, the museum lounge on the first floor welcomes visitors to enjoy a cool beer and Bavarian delicacies.
Visitor information
Useful information & helpful hints
Personalities
Pioneers of the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum
Ferdinand Schmid (center) was the first director of the Edith-Haberland-Wagner Foundation from 1996 to 2013. Under his leadership, the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum opened its doors.
Today, Catherine Demeter (right), a descendant of the Wagner family, is the first female director, alongside Martin Liebhäuser as the second director, guiding the foundation’s work.
The Oktoberfest
Munich tradition since 1810
On October 12, 1810, the bells rang out in Munich as Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married his beautiful bride, Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. To the delight of the citizens, it was decided to celebrate the wedding with the entire city. For five days, barrels were emptied in honor of the royal couple. On the final day, a horse race was held on a meadow outside the city gates to entertain the guests—and thus, the Oktoberfest was born!
The meadow was named Theresienwiese in honor of the bride, and it still carries her name today—now right in the heart of the city. Step into two centuries of Oktoberfest history! Discover how a royal wedding became a popular festival, how beer tents, fairground attractions, and electricity arrived at the Wiesn, and explore the curious and whimsical sights that once awaited visitors of past eras.
The Oktoberfest
House history
One of Munich's oldest townhouses
Located in the Angerviertel district in the valley, there's hardly a better location for our Beer and Oktoberfest Museum. Countless breweries have been located here since time immemorial. The building at Sterneckerstraße 2 is a small gem of urban history—one of the oldest town houses in Munich. Just a stone's throw from the former city wall, the building now lies in a narrow, inconspicuous alley where the character of Old Munich, before the destruction of World War II, is still palpable.
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1346
Built two decades after the devastating city fire of 1327, the house was originally a rectangular, two-story building. Today, in the museum’s beer room—the former cellar—you can still admire the massive, fireproof brick walls with river pebble layers and the old wooden beams dating back to the first half of the 14th century. Interestingly, the house was built without a proper cellar from the start.
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15th century
Although the exact date is no longer known, the entire two-story building was extensively rebuilt at the end of the 15th century. The 'Gothic Room,' along with the adjoining large smoke kitchen on the first floor, took on its present form. Several new brick walls were also added—stone to prevent the entire house from burning down in the event of a fire. In a time when cooking over open flames was the norm, this was a constant danger!
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1536
For the first time, Munich’s land register reveals the name of the house’s owner. Back then, Sterneckerstraße was called 'Gasse bei dem Taeckentor,' and the owner was Ulrich Huber, a Loder by trade. The property changed hands 36 times up until 1966, and the street’s name changed several times as well. From 1543, it was known as Kleine Gasse, later Felergasse, and only from 1696 did it take on the name Sterneckergasse.
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1573
The Munich councilor Hans Starnberger acquired the property, which the land register describes as a 'house, with a stable beside it and a garden behind.' His daughter, Anna Starnberger, converted the building into a rental house. Around 1595, two more floors were added, and a new staircase was built on the north side – a so-called 'Himmelsleiter' – which can still be seen today.
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End of the 18th century
By the end of the century, Munich faced a severe housing shortage. The old city walls still stood, enclosing the city like a corset. As a result, buildings grew vertically—including the house on Sterneckergasse, which gained an additional floor. A new fire regulation in 1791 also required the installation of stone chimneys.
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Before 1939
Hardly damaged during World War II, the building still saw no major renovations, making it increasingly unattractive for ordinary tenants. It fell into a kind of ‘sleeping beauty’ state, gradually deteriorating—until it was finally brought back to life by the Edith-Haberland-Wagner Foundation.
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After 1945
Hardly damaged during World War II, the building still saw no major renovations, making it increasingly unattractive for ordinary tenants. It fell into a kind of ‘sleeping beauty’ state, gradually deteriorating—until it was finally brought back to life by the Edith-Haberland-Wagner Foundation.
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2000
The owners at the time planned extensive modernizations that would have irreversibly destroyed a unique cultural heritage. Fortunately, in 2000, the Edith-Haberland-Wagner Foundation, under its first director Ferdinand Schmid, acquired the property. What followed was a years-long, meticulous restoration of the building, with the goal of opening a Beer and Oktoberfest Museum.
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2005
This year, the restoration work was completed. On September 7, the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum finally opened its doors to the public – truly a one-of-a-kind institution!
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2022
The museum’s permanent exhibition has been newly curated and given a modern design.
