The political morning pint at the Gillamoos folk festival is as lively as the political Ash Wednesday – not only because of the Aiwanger affair this year. Why election campaigns are held in beer tents in Bavaria.
A good month before the state elections, the parties are warming up for the final sprint at the traditional political exchange of blows at the Gillamoos fair in Lower Bavaria. The leaflet affair about Free Voters chief Aiwanger is likely to be one of the defining issues. After the political Ash Wednesday, the morning pint at the Gillamoos folk festival is the second major political event of the year in Bavaria, where politicians from different parties promote their politics on the same day. But where does this tradition come from?
Gillamoos has its origins in a pilgrimage with a market and fair. On the occasion of the church consecration day of “St. Gilgen in dem Moos” – a chapel first mentioned in 1313 – people made a pilgrimage to Abensberg in Bavaria in honor of St. Egidius. Aegidius was born into a wealthy family in Athens in the seventh century and lived as a hermit in a cave near Nîmes in France. Around 680 he founded a monastery called St. Gilles in the Camargue. Aegidius – or St. Gille in French – has been venerated as a saint since the 9th century. The “Gilgen” probably comes from its French name, the name of the Abensberg chapel “St. Gilgen am Moos” has been blurred over the centuries to the name Gillamoos. The fair has been held here since at least 1491. Only after the First World War (1914 to 1918) did the large marquees become established.
Gillamoos always close to the election date
September 1st is the memorial day of Saint Ägidius, which is why Gillamoos traditionally takes place around the first weekend in September. Because federal and state elections often take place in the near future, the political morning pint on Monday has established itself as an important election campaign date in Bavaria: Top representatives of the parties speak at the same time in five large fairground tents and in restaurants in Arnsberg.
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This year the main speakers in the festival tents are Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) with the support of Friedrich Merz (CDU), Söder’s Baden-Württemberg counterpart Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), Söder’s deputy Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters), SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil and the FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki. AfD and the Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) have their events outside the festival grounds.
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Similar to the political Ash Wednesday, the politicians are primarily concerned with assessing the mood “among the people” on certain political issues and promoting their own party. And there, fairs and folk festivals offer a different setting and a different audience than at party conferences in event halls.
Sources: “”, , , DPA.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
