Nockherberg is a word with three different meanings. First, it is the highest hill within the city boundaries of Munich. Not too spectacular, one would say, but it has a peculiarity because climbing up it is easier than walking down it.

This peculiarity has its origin in the word's second meaning; Nockherberg is also an alias for the Paulaner facility, a brewery with its associated beer cellar and beer garden. The aforementioned difficulty arises after having consumed what the facility has to offer. This is especially true for two weeks in spring, when all the breweries of Munich offer their Starkbier for a two-week duration. Owing to the importance assigned to this time, these two weeks, plus the Carnival, are also called 'Munich's fifth season of the year'¹. Using the public transportation system of Munich, the brewery can be reached by exiting at the Kolumbusplatz Station and heading uphill.

The third meaning of the word Nockherberg, and the subject of this entry, relates to the annual celebration of opening the first Starkbier keg early in spring, an evening which has its very own tradition.

Starkbier and Bockbier

According to German laws, a beer may be called a Starkbier ('stout') if it had contained, prior to fermentation, more than 16% essential contents. Starkbier can further be divided into Bock and Doppelbock, where Bock has between 16% and 18% of essence, and Doppelbock has more than 18%. As a rule of thumb, you can divide this number by three to estimate - not calculate - its volumetric content of alcohol after fermentation. Thus, Bock has some 6% alcohol, and Doppelbock will have around 7.5%.

History

Legend has it that Bock was invented in Einbeck, close to Hanover, around 1351. Though quite expensive, it was successful in the export market, owing to its fine taste. Over time, the Bavarians changed its name from Einbecker to Ainpöckisch and then to Bock. The Hofbräuhaus in Munich was built in 1591 in order to save money by brewing Bock for the needs of Count Wilhelm V. The Hofbräuhaus persisted into the present day, but monasteries of different brotherhoods like the Augustines or Franciscans took over the main business of brewing beer.

Sometime between 1630 and 1670, the Paulaner brotherhood² also started brewing Bock. It was a rather strong one, for the monks were only allowed to feed on flour, fish and herbs during Lent. There were no restrictions on the beverages they consumed, hence they resorted to beer, and made a rather rich one. Another reason is that cooling facilities hadn't yet been invented, so they needed something with a higher alcohol content which would keep it from rotting. This higher alcoholic content today amounts to 7.5%, but in the Middle Ages the beer had around 10%. To honour the founder of their brotherhood, the beer was called Heilig-Vater-Bier ('Holy Father'), which was later on changed to Sankt-Vater and became Salvator in the 19th Century. The brewing recipe which is nowadays employed dates back to Brother Barnabas who was the head of the Paulaner's brewery from 1773 to 1795.

The monks realised that they could earn good money for their brotherhood by selling the beer to the public (which, technically, they were not allowed to do until 1780, but did anyway), which is why some commercial competitors set in and also began brewing Salvator. When French Emperor Napoleon seized Bavaria in 1799, he ordered that the monasteries be closed, and that their business be taken over by private enterprises. The brewery of the Paulaner brotherhood was taken over in 1806 by a brewer named Franz Xaver Zacherl. There was some struggle over the trademark until the Zacherl brewery (which later on changed its name back to Paulaner) obtained a patent which prohibited other breweries from using the name 'Salvator'. So the competitors had to use different names, but they kept the -ator ending in order to indicate that their products were Starkbier as well. Some brand names are Maximator, Bayerator, Optimator, Delicator, Triumphator, and so on. So the moral is, beware of any -ator beers!

Starkbier-Anstich - the Opening of the First Keg

The celebration of opening the first Starkbier keg takes place every year on the Thursday which comes closest to St Joseph's Day (19 March)³. Since the Middle Ages, the local Count and his court took part as well and were entertained free of charge. However, in return they had to listen to a sermon which made fun of them by recalling their mistakes of the past year. In the 19th Century the event took the form of a city quarter feast, and it was the city's mayor who was given the sermon.

The tradition of the Starkbier-Anstich has been kept. Every year, the Prime Minister of Bavaria receives the first stein with the words 'Salve pater patriae! Bibes, princeps optime!' or 'Hail to thee, oh Father of the Fatherland⁴, drink, our best Prince'.

In 1999, the beer cellar - which was actually above ground, not below - burned down, and in the following years the celebration took place outside the Paulaner buildings. The celebration is completely paid for by the brewery, and includes some DM500,000 (£165,000 at the time of writing) worth of decorations. The evening is not open for the casual visitor, but the local TV features a live broadcast and scores an absolute year's high in popularity on this day. The composition of the audience is at the sole discretion of the brewery's public relations manager. Some 500 guests are invited, selected from public life, industry, sports, and local dignitaries. Politicians are also invited, but their participation comes at a certain price.

Derblecken

The main purpose of the evening is Derblecken which means to poke fun at people in general, and politicians in particular. The range of victims includes Munich's Lord Mayor, members of the Bavarian government, Germany's Chancellor, members of his cabinet and leading members of the opposition parties. Besides being great fun for the guests, being 'derblecked' is an honour for the politicians because those who are not made a subject of the jokes cannot consider themselves important and will have good reason to think that popularity is on the wane. Only politicians who are present at the evening will be 'derblecked', hence people who don't show up despite occupying some rather high position are excluding themselves from the circle of the important. So it happens that any high-ranking politician will literally move mountains in order to attend, and it takes some severe disease or international crisis for them not to show up. This basic rule somewhat impedes the work of the script writers because they have to rewrite the paperwork more than once during the weeks of preparation. However, Chancellor Schröder's reasons for not appearing in 2001 were not acknowledged by the team, so he got his punishment anyway.

Derblecken is performed by 'Brother Barnabas' and a team of actors who have been chosen for their similarities to certain politicians.

Salvatorspiel - the Stageplay

This performance can best be described as a mixture between a Broadway-like musical and some theatre play which holds up a mirror to politicians. The doppelgangers have many years of experience in impersonating their counterparts, which goes so far as to precisely mimicking the gestures and every minute detail of those they impersonate. For example, even a slight movement of the head, if recognised as typical and performed in a suitable situation, can yield frantic applause.

Brother Barnabas

Brother Barnabas is also played by a popular actor, in the disguise of a monk. He holds a speech in the form of a sermon, or to be more accurate, it is rather some curtain-lecture which is peppered with allusions to the politicians' stereotypical behaviour, their false steps and weaknesses. But whatever wrongdoing is covered in the play or in Brother Barnabas' sermon, a certain level is always maintained and no offence taken by the victims; though sometimes a certain grinding of teeth can be heard. So at the end of the show you can see the politicians and their doppelgangers in unison on the stage and clinking their Bockbier steins in conciliation and peace.

One last peculiarity of the Starkbieranstich is that it is the only occasion in the year when it is not injurious to a politician's reputation to be seen in public while obviously being under the influence of the Starkbier's most prominent ingredient, alcohol.