Bergkirchweih(Berg)

A hill with enough Beers for a fortnight! That’s what it is. People from far and near come to this event, the entire city seems to be in hangover from all the alcohol. In short: Good music, Good Beer, Pretty girls in Dirndl and ugly drunk men in Lederhosen all around!

I too wanted to be a part of this. Primarily because of the fear of missing out (FOMO: a word I recently picked). But I wasn’t even sure I would enjoy it as much I eventually did.

The thing is, I don’t drink beer and some of my friends had already visited this place. I missed out on joining them on the first two days of the fest. So, finally when I wanted to go, this Monday, there wasn’t much enthusiasm left.

Fortunately, my apartment mate -Ananya- hadn’t been yet, so I planned to join her and her friends. Also, a friend of mine Felix, who had been there 3 days in a row and is now sick, also agreed to join.

The Bergkirchweih is an annual fest in Erlangen held on top of a hill. It is a religious festival. Or is it a beer festival? After all, Beer is the religion here. So, I guess it is still technically right to call it a religious beer festival. There is a church somewhere on the top – hidden behind thousands of people and liters of beer.

It lasts 12 days, and place is filled with festive mood. The highlight is the beer cellars in the hill. Historically, beers were stored in it to keep it cool. Today, despite modern refrigerator technology, they remain the most important place of worship.

This is similar to Oktober fest. But it is a bit older and more local festival.

So, after a heavy lunch, I had fully surrendered to an afternoon siesta, when my apartment mate arrived. She knocked on my door and Anton was with her. I got up a bit grumpy and disoriented.

I knew I had to get through this evening. I had committed to going to the Berg. Half unwilling, I dragged myself. The biggest fear wasn’t the crowd or beer… it was someone casually saying “You missed all the fun” and silently judging me as “You have failed as a social animal!”

I told myself, I will return back in 2 hrs or less, just enough to pay my pilgrimage and click a few photos to prove I was there.

But from that low point the day kept getting better as we moved closer to the hill. It was as if the hill has some magic.

To begin with, Anton is always a pleasure to talk to. The conversation was already uplifting. With us trying on the caps and him explaining about the festival made me excited to go.

With him, we took the bus toward the Berg, officially beginning the journey.

On the way, we met another friend of Ananya at the Erlangen station – Maja. It was very refreshing to meet her. Possibly, the first person I know here who is not studying STEM, which automatically makes her 34.8% funnier.

From there, we decided to walk towards the Berg together.

Finally, Felix – late as always – joined us when we reached the Berg. I was glad to have him here.

As we walked to the top we hit a T-junction. We started right – the PG version of Berg with rides and games. One ride called the Predator stood out as soon as we saw it. I made a mental note to ride it.

Then we went to the left of the junction – the 18+ version. This is were all the cellars were – the beers and the music. We found a spot and we enjoyed the music for a long time.

While we were there, we conducted a small scientific experiment. The Drindl that the girls wear, supposedly indicates if they are single or committed. If the knot on their waist is on the left they are single and if to the right they are committed.

So, we naturally resorted to counting them for sometime. A bit of a questionable behavior. But since we were a mixed group, I hope it would have passed as a valid science experiment. The findings : roughly 50 – 50. A good news!

This was the highlight of the day.

On the way back, we decided to try those rides. So, it was jointly decided to get onto the 85-meter “Aeronaut” chain flier. A carousel which rotates at 85m high.

I agreed but a bit sad as the Predator was cooler. But Aeronaut with friends anytime beats Predator alone.

It was genuinely fun and from that height the view was unreal.

The surprise came after: Maja wanted to ride Predator as well. So now it was Predator with a friend, which obviously meant it had officially leveled up—so I was sure it would beat Aeronaut.

We dashed towards it and took the ride. It was shit scary. I have never in my life have been turned upside down and spun around. The ride was also much longer. But it was worth every penny.

Felix decided to stay longer at the Berg. He apparently stayed till they closed and then went to a club. Reached home very late. And that explains why he is sick today!

Rest of us walked back. On the way back, Maja explained why I get to meet her after 1 semester of being in Germany. Most of my connections come through Ananya. Maja calls herself “top-tier unlock”. In her system, people are arranged like game levels, and you only unlock the higher tiers after enough time, trust, and a few completed side quests. I apparently made it to this level only after a full semester.

Eventually, it was time to part ways. It was far longer than 2 hrs. But, at this point I was no longer eager to reach home.

We waited for Anton to board his train back home. Ananya then suggested walking back home and I readily took that option. That at least delayed reaching back home by 40 more mins.

A day to remember!