The red sandstone ruins of Heidelberg castle in Baden-Württemberg form Germany's most popular site-seeing destination for foreign tourists, according to a study by the National Tourism Board (DZT)

Green-fingered Germans are rejoicing after news spread on Wednesday that an American agave plant is flowering in Bavaria - a rare occurrence in the horticultural world. 

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Italians head north for Munich's Oktoberfest. Local entrepreneurs have identified a market niche, while Munich police have introduced special measures to deal with the massive influx -- such as importing Italian police officers to keep their compatriots in order.

Looking to head to Munich this year for Oktoberfest? The Local has put together a guide to the world’s biggest beer bash that might get you out of Bavaria alive.

Looking to head to Munich this year for Oktoberfest? The Local has put together a guide to the world’s biggest beer bash that might get you out of Bavaria alive.

The Museum of Bavarian Kings opened in Schwangau on Friday. The new museum traces the history of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which ruled the southern German kingdom until 1918.

Summer in Munich means one thing: drinking beer outdoors. Chris Cottrell discovers five of the best places to knock back a cold Maß in the Bavarian capital.

(1 Mass stein contains approx. 34 fl. oz.) 

The Oktoberfest beer festival does much to keep Bavarians' reputations as yodeling, thigh-slapping funsters alive and well. Yet when it comes to the price of a brew, they get all serious.

To appreciate the Munich love of beer you just have to consider what locals call the "fifth season".
It's the Starkbierzeit (Strong Beer Time), a three-week frenzy of early-spring stout swigging.

Visitors to the Munich Oktoberfest this year drank their way into the history books by downing an unprecedented 7 million liters of beer, beating the previous high of 6.94 million reached in 2007, the organizers said. The impressive list of lost items includes a set of dentures and a live rabbit.

Germany is set for a few fleeting days "Indian summer" this week, as a high pressure system brings balmy and dry weather, the German Weather Service (DWD) said on Monday.

Though rivers of beer are consumed each year at Oktoberfest, it's just a fraction of Munich breweries' overall sales. For them the festival is not just tradition, it's also a massive public relations event fuelling their international business.

It might as well be a rite of passage for non-Germans living here to visit their first Oktoberfest. To chronicle a first trip to Munich's biggest party, Deutsche Welle sent an Oktoberfest rookie to the 'Wiesn.'

In Cologne, you're supposed to drink 'Koelsch' when ordering a beer, else you ask the 'Koebes' what other beers they offer. He and Cologners would be quite insulted if you ordered 'Duesseldorfer Alt'. Don't really expect getting Duesseldorfer Alt in Cologne.
The 'haute cuisine' is almost Bavarian style - in terms of 'simple, yummy, traditional' Brotzeit dishes although they would also be insulted if you order a Brotzeit there.

The Munich beer festival kicked off Saturday with millions of visitors from around the world expected to raise a glass or two to celebrate the event's 200th birthday over the next 17 days.

Spiegel:"Munich's six main breweries are usually locked in bitter competition. But this year, they have taken the unprecedented step of joining forces to create a special beer in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest. The move follows a recent drive to strengthen the festival's folk traditions."

The bright (pale)-yellow beer, they call 'Tegernseer Hell' of the Ducal-Bavarian Brewery of Tegernsee (Lake Tegern), has been having a more than 1.000 year's beer tradition, derived from the monks of the St. Benedict's monastery there, founded in 746 AC. 54 years prior to the coronation of Emperor of the 'Holy Roman Empire of German Nation', Charles, the Great, (Charlesmagne) in 800 AC, the St. Benedict's monks were savvy enough to brew their liquid bread, the monastery beer, with high quality.

If the 'Tegernseer Hell' was based on an old recipe of theirs - they did quite a good job then.

This beer's taste is between sweetish and bitter, the right mixture - it's certainly not a 'Pilsner' type of beer, with 4.8 % alcohol v/v well within the range of regular Bavarian beer of 5.0 +/- 0.5 %.

The 'crystal-clear water' comes from the near-by Bavarian Alps near Lake Tegern, the brewing ingredients of hops and malted barley - according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, of course.

The 'Ducal-Bavarian Brauhaus Tegernsee' is located in the city of Tegernsee.

(watch the web-cams of this beautiful Bavarian landscape with the following link:

http://www.tegernsee.com/service/webcams.html)

The Local (Germany):" Beer in Palestine? Oompah music in Ho Chi Minh City? With Munich's legendary beer bash Oktoberfest about to celebrate its 200th anniversary, Ben Knight takes a look at the impact of Bavaria's cultural juggernaut around the world."

Quote:"Only beers from the Munich breweries are being served at the Munich Oktoberfest and the beer consumption at the fest accounts for about 30% of the entire annual beer production of all the Munich breweries combined. The gaudi (which is Bavarian vernacular for "fun") usually starts around the last week of September and ends after the first week of October. To get the precise dates of the next Oktoberfest, visit http://www.oktoberfest.de/en on the web."

Every year, zillions of dead randy bugs cause slippery roads in Schwandorf on the Naab, Federal Free State of Bavaria, Germany.

There, the motorists have always been being warned by a general warning sign and an additional note "Eintagsfliegen" (randy bugs). A foreigner would only have ??? on his/her mind. What the heck means 'Eintagsfliegen'? Even Germans wouldn't be aware of a slippery road caused by randy bugs, only the Schwandorfers who know about them.

The traffic regulators should have used an adequate sign. It would mean a lot more for everyone!

Read article and look at the warning sign:

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100812-29127.html

The Local (DE): "Every summer it's the same messy mating ritual: Millions of mayflies hatch, have sex and die in the Bavarian county of Schwandorf, endangering motorists with their slippery corpses left on roads."

Paul and Paula Panhauser of Punxsutawney, Penn. could have avoided the mess if they had gotten the proper pieces of information about the E.U. bureaucracy behind customs regulations on arrivial in the European Union.

Well, let's change the scenario of Vol. 2 a bit.

Paula purchased the 4 cartons of cigarettes at the duty free shop near the departure gate at JFK for $98. Paul didn't say anything.

Aboard the Lufthansa plane and gotten acquainted with Peter and Shelly Travelmost of Denver, Colo., they got the info that they are only supposed to import two cartons of cigarettes instead of four. After having had a nice conversation and some drinks of Jack Daniels on the rocks and some glasses of red wine - free of charge with Lufthansa - during the eight-hour-flight to Frankfurt with the Travelmosts, Paul and Paula decided to declare their cigarettes at German customs in Frankfurt.

Behind the immigration booth, they walked through the red channel - but no customs officer was there - but a sign and a button: Anything to declare? Please ring for the officer.

After a short waiting-time of nearly five minutes, a friendly-looking German female customs officer in her green uniform arrived.

Paul showed her the passports.

Female German Customs officer (FGCO): Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Panhauser, how may I help you?

Paul: We'd like to declare two extra cartons of cigarettes, ma'am.

FGCO: Well, no problem, that will cost you German import dues of 60 euros. You may pay with your credit card. Will you please come with me to the customs check-out?

Paul: Sure. And, ma'am, my wife has some jewelry items worth $3.000 in her carry-on luggage. She will carry them on the stay in Germany and take them home, of course. What are we supposed to do?

FGCO: Sir, it would be fine with me if you left here at Frankfurt Airport. You'd rather pay the 60 euros for cigarettes here, you get the customs receipt. Oh, I see you have a connecting flight to Munich. OK, then you should go through the red channel again, show your receipt and declare the jewelry. My customs collegues have discretionary powers to demand a deposit or they let you go without a deposit as I would do here in Frankfurt. It would be better to pay the deposit in Munich if necessary, then you can claim it back there prior to your departure from Munich to New York via Frankfurt, OK?

After having paid 60 euros by credit card to the German federal treasury and about 30 min of procedure time, Paul and Paula got their connecting flight to Munich. On their 40 min hop to Munich, they cheered at each other with a couple glasses of champagne - free of charge on domestic Lufthansa flights - and they arrived on time.

At the German customs there, they declared Paula's jewelry and showed the receipt for the cigarettes, as well as the receipt for the two litres of Glenfiddich Scotch whisky they bought aboard the international Lufthansa flight.

The German customs officer at Munich airport didn't want to have a deposit for Paula's jewelry, everything was fine.

Paul and Paula, in their best mood, were picked up by their relatives after the short stay of 5 min at the customs inspection room.

They enjoyed their 3 week vacation in Bavaria very much, especially the one week on the Bavarian beer trail.

Please read Vol. 1 and 2 beforehand.

Conclusion:

Inform yourself about the proper immigration and customs regulations prior to your journey.

Be honest and kind to the German customs people - it'll pay off, believe me.

If you aren't sure always go through the red channel - the German federal service personnel will be helpful and kind to you as well, this is general and official policy toward travelers.