Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizing the

State of Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and in the east by ''Esperantoplatz'', a square named for the international language

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

. There, a memorial commemorates the victims of the 1980 Oktoberfest bombing. Bavariaring, an

orbital road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

, provides access to visiting traffic. In the north the towers of the Paulskirche are visible.

History

The name of the site is derived from the name of Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen,Oktoberfest.de - The Wiesn Website , Dates and General FAQs
/ref> the wife of Crown Prince Ludwig I. Their wedding took place on a meadow outside the city walls in 1810 ("Wiese" is German for "meadow."), which thereafter was called Theresienwiese. Since then, the ''Oktoberfest'' is celebrated every year to commemorate this event. In addition to the ''Oktoberfest'', a spring festival and a winter festival ("Winter Tollwood") take place there as well. Every year in April, one of Germany's largest flea markets is also held there.

Location

The site is located south west of the city centre. It has its own station on the Munich U-Bahn system, on the U4 and U5 lines and the Poccistraße and Goetheplatz stations can be found near the southern end. The nearest Munich S-Bahn station is ''

Hackerbrücke The Hackerbrücke (Hacker Bridge) is a road bridge across the main railway line in Munich immediately west of the town's central station. The first bridge was built at the beginning of the 1870s. In 1890-94 this was replaced by a new bridge, const ...

'' or ''

München Hauptbahnhof München Hauptbahnhof or Munich Central Station is the main railway station in the city of Munich, Germany. It is one of the three stations with long-distance services in Munich, the others being Munich East station (''München Ost'') and Munich ...

'' (Munich central station).

References

{{coord, 48, 08, N, 11, 33, E, display=title Parks and open spaces in Munich