Nockherberg
Nockherberg is the name of a small terrace on the slope of the eastern bank of the Isar in Munich, situated in the urban district of Au. An annual beer festival rich in tradition takes place there in the Paulaner Brewery - the Salvator-Ausschank auf dem Nockherberg The name of the raised terrace is often used synonymously for this festival or its opening event, the tapping of the first barrel of a strong, seasonal beer.
Origin and location
The name of the Nockherberg and two nearby streets can be traced back to the banking family Nockher. The family had settled in Munich in the 18th century and built a summer house on the eastern Isar heights in 1789, the so-called ‘Nockher palace’. It was located on the street known today as 'Am Nockherberg'.The Nockherberg terrace is situated in the district of Au-Haidhausen. From the Nockherberg,, the terrain descends north-west towards the Isar for approximately 20 metres. Below the hill, the street 'Am Neudeck' with the former prison is located. To the north is the Mariahilfplatz and in a south-westerly direction the old Paulaner breweries.
From Neudeck, the road ‘Am Nockherberg’, formerly named Ohlmüller Street, snakes up the mountainside and merges into Sankt Bonifatius Street at the top. The new brewery buildings between Reger Street in the east and Hoch Street in the west form the north-eastern part of the Nockherberg, with a rail connection to München Ost station. Hoch Street forks off Nockerberg street near the top and joins it again via the small ‘Zacherlweg’.
Across the street ‘Am Nockherberg’ from the new brewery area there is an urban park named 'Kronepark', which is situated on the south-western part of the hill and includes a playground. 'Kronepark' was built in 1958 on land owned by the former circus director and his widow Ida Krone, who died in 1957. Several flights of steps lead down to Nockher Street, formerly ‘Bei den Jägerhäusln’, where the road proceeds westwards below the park. A social science research centre, the Deutsches Jugendinstitut stands here. Columbus Square is situated at the south-western end of Nocker Street.
The strong beer festival
The strong beer festival takes place annually during Lent in the Paulaner main hall at Hoch Street 77. It starts around Saint Joseph's Day and lasts for 17 days. The festival is associated with the traditional ‘Holy Father Feast’ on April 2, commemorating Francis of Paola, founder of the Paulaner religious order.With its ale-benches, light music and huge crowd of visitors, today's Salvator-Ausschank resembles the pole marquees at the Munich Oktoberfest. On the Nockherberg, beer is not served in usual beer glasses, but in, tankards made of robust earthenware. The sturdy tankards keep the beer cool longer and also make ‘undemonstrative’ refilling possible.
History
Serving strong beer at Lent can be traced back to a regulation from the religious order of the Paulaner took a lease on the Paulaner brewery and eventually purchased it in 1813, whereby the brewery became an ordinary commercial undertaking. 'Zacherlweg' at the Nockherberg is a street named after him. Zacherl continued the tradition of annual strong-beer tapping on 2 April and the festive sale of beer in the following Octave. Towards the middle of the 19th century, the first tapping shifted to March and the strong beer time was extended. In 1861, the Salvator-Ausschank started the Sunday before St. Joseph's Day and lasted for 12 days. Starting in 1858, the brewery arranged for performances by Gstanzl singers and popular folk actors to increase business. During the tapping in 1891, the first "Salvator speech" was held. After an interruption from 1939 to 1950 due to World War II, the strong beer festival reappeared in its present form, during which individual politicians were made fun of in clever speeches; the German term for being subjected to this kind of friendly insult is derbleckt.The 'Salvator Battle' of 1888
The only violent event in the history of the town festival occurred on 23 May 1888, when a trivial quarrel turned into a mass brawl between soldiers and civilians. When an artillerist drew his sabre, a fight broke out in which walking-sticks and beer mugs were also put to good use, causing a relatively large number of injuries. The fight spread throughout the hall and into the garden. Neither the gendarmes nor the jail guard from Neudeck could control the mob, so a 50-man unit of Heavy Cavalry was called, who rode into the hall swinging their sabres. When the conflict broke out there had been only one gendarmerie sergeant on duty at the Nockherberg. In a later investigation this was considered the reason for the inability to control the escalation. It was also claimed that irritation caused by an increase in the price of Salvator beer was the underlying reason for the wrath of the festival guests. The 'scandal year' 1888 remained a topic of conversation in Munich for many years.Venue
The Salvator-Ausschank did not originally take place on the Nockherberg but in the old brewery at Neudeck, on the corner of Falken Street and Ohlmüller Street. In 1822, the Zacherlgarten inn was constructed on the grounds of the Paulaner garden to facilitate year-round drinking of Lent beer; it existed until 2008. From 1846 until 1860, beer was tapped in the so-called Neudecker Garden on a field nearby. In 1858, banker Georg Nockher sold his summer residence on the Nockherberg to the Paulaner brewery, and it was turned into a beer garden. Starting in spring 1861, beer was served only here in the new Zacherl-Keller, renamed the Salvator-Keller in 1928. The inn Zum Nockhergarten, the former Nockher palace, was razed in 1903/1904.During World War II the brewery gallery with its massive arches was used as the command post of Munich's air-raid defence headquarters. Part of the building was also made available to the public as a shelter. The cellar was completely destroyed during a bombing raid on 24 April 1944. The new Salvator-Keller, designed by professor Franz Zell, reopened on 11 March 1950.
On 28 August 1965, the extreme right-wing NPD held its first federal party conference in the Salvator-Keller. In the night of 27 to 28 November 1999, the cellar, now called Paulaner-Keller, was almost entirely destroyed by arson. Firefighting operations with 89 fire engines lasted for two days. The resulting damage amounted to approximately 15 million euros. In spite of intensive efforts, the offender has so far not been identified amongst 650 suspects. In March 2004, 39-year-old Karl R., known as the "step-brother" of Nockherberg publican Peter Pongratz and relative of the Fischer-Vroni family, was remanded in custody as a suspect in the crime. However, he was released after a few months for lack of evidence.
In the years 2000 to 2002, the Salvator-Ausschank took place in a specially-built tent on the Mariahilfplatz below the Nockherberg. The Paulaner-Keller was torn down in 2001 and in 2003 replaced by a newly constructed above-ground Paulaner festive hall, which offers room for up to 2500 customers. The reconstruction cost around 25 million euros. One of the rooms in the vaulted cellar of the new inn Paulaner am Nockherberg is now once again called the Salvatorkeller. The fountain, famous from television advertising, is located in the beer garden, which has again been accessible since 2003.
Political kick-off: sampling the strong beer
The kick-off event of the annual Salvator-Ausschank is the tasting of the first strong beer of the "fifth season", attended by many regional and federal Bavarian politicians. Due to Bavarian Television broadcasts since 1982, the tapping of the strong beer keg on the Nockherberg and the subsequent program can be viewed by a wide audience. The television broadcast in 2004 had approximately 2.8 million viewers. In 2015, the live-broadcast was followed by 2.8 million viewers Germany-wide, of which 2.05 million were Bavarian viewers.The event begins with an actual beer tasting. The first Maß, which was originally presented to the prince-elector, has been handed to the Bavarian minister-president since 1965. The head of the brewery passes him the mug with the traditional words: Salve pater patriae! Bibas, princeps optime!. However, the present "father of the nation" is not expected to carry out the traditional Salvator test, which would not function anyway because the recipe has been modified; originally, Lenten beer was considered to be strong enough only if a bench drenched with the beer would adhere to a person's Lederhosen when he attempted to stand up.
The highlight of the event is the of politicians, a political cabaret in front of invited guests, consisting of a speech followed by a Singspiel. In both contributions current Munich issues as well as sharp commentaries on regional and federal politics are presented in cleverly worded ironic statements and more or less heavy sideswipes aimed at politicians of all parties. For a Bavarian politician, not being "derbleckt", meaning not being taken for a ride in the festive contributions, can almost be interpreted as a sign of one's irrelevance or lack of a distinctive personality.
In 1991, the Nockerberg beer festival was cancelled due to the Gulf War, and in 2003 due to the Iraq War. In 2009 the event was scheduled for 12 March but postponed to the end of the Salvator-Ausschank period on 2 April because of the Winnenden school shooting.
Tradition of ''Derblecken''
can be traced back to the tradition of an innkeeper greeting his guests. In former times he was apt to know all the villagers by name and was quite familiar with all the local stories and rumours. Regular guests were frequently teased with those stories by humorous and self-confident innkeepers. For events where the guests were to be welcomed in a similar way, rhetorically less talented innkeepers or hosts ordered professional or Gstanzl singers who informed themselves about the guests' peculiarities and sensitivities beforehand. The victims of mockery were expected to take it with good grace, since any offense taken would give rise to even greater public amusement.This tradition is still cultivated today. Since the 'victims' are invited guests, overly rude or insulting criticism, which would reflect on the host is prohibited. Consequently, the authors of the festive contributions strive to put forth particularly critical 'attacks' indirectly, with clever wording, or with a wink.