German tradition and cuisine have been integrated into my life since I was a child. Having grandparents that are basically pure German and Austrian has helped me experience a bit of what it feels like to be German. From celebrating St. Nicholas day (learn more about this tradition: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=87 ) to eating/making wiener schnitzel on several occasions throughout the year, I have truly loved that part of my heritage and was excited to finally see the culture first handedly in Munich.
Arriving in Munich that Saturday, I felt both anxious and somewhat exhausted. We had left Prague around 6 am and had arrived in Munich around 3 pm. Not only did the train seem endless but we arrived to find Munich rainy and cold. Having only but a few hours before we would inevitably pass out, we decided to visit the famous Hofbrauhaus for some traditional German cuisine. Located just outside Munich's main city center, the restaurant towers 3 stories high and has multiple indoor and outdoor dining areas including many beer gardens (check out the menu and architecture here: http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/). Walking into the magnificent restaurant, I suddenly felt overwhelmed. The first floor contained what seemed to be around 60 long tables that sat 10 people each and all seemed to be taken already. As we searched for a table, I noticed almost all of the current customers seemed to be German families rather than tourists. This surprised me because I had heard that it was more of a tourist location. After a few minutes of searching, we were directed to the third floor by a waitress. She was in traditional German dress (shown below and explained in:http://www.about-germany.org/culture/tradfashion.php) and was carrying 6 one liter mugs of beer, her grace was very impressive.
The third floor turned out to be an even larger dining hall with a stage. We were seated parallel to the stage and began our meal by ordering the traditional Munich Beer. Just then, a group of 4 traditionally dressed German couples took the stage. A band, including a harp player, began to play folk music and the couples danced. In the middle of the dance, the boys formed a square on stage and did a series of synchronized rhythmic claps. They used there chests, thighs, and shoes to create a beat that coincided with the music (It looked very similar to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv5_FKxABjw&feature=related). After they finished, the dining customers applauded and many even gave a standing ovation. I could definitely tell which customers were German by their facial and overall physical expressions after the performance. This event reminded me of the article we read in geography entitled, "How Soccer Explains the World...” because it shows a historical artifact that has come to shape Germany's national identity. From the food and beer to the dance performance, almost everything in that restaurant signified traditional historic values of Germany.
After enjoying the dance performance and the cold beer, our food had arrived. I had decided on wiener schnitzel and the very sight of it made my mouth water (how to prepare this meal:http://www.ehow.com/how_2054141_make-wiener-schnitzel.html) . It seemed to be one foot of pure deliciousness garnished with lemon. Luckily for me, it looked just as good as it tasted. Just one bite of the savory meat, took me back to my childhood and to the moments when I would indulge in this very meal in my Grandma's kitchen. At that moment, I took a sort of German pride in the food. Even though, I obviously don't live in Germany I still felt at home in the traditional environment and was proud to tell my traveling companions about my German roots.
This experience gave me a first hand look at nationalism and what defines national identity. The traditional cuisine reminded me of the article written by F. Parasecoli that addressed food as a means of creating a sense of nationalism. This restaurant did just that. The menu was purely homemade traditional German cuisine and the pride shown by the German servers/customers was clear. The food was homemade and fresh which shows what types of things the Germans value when preparing their food. In addition, the fact that many of the customers were German families shows that they are trying to preserve traditional values even in more tourist locations. To all future students, I would strongly recommend trying to visit somewhere that means something to your heritage. It is weird the sense of pride you feel for the countries where your ancestors originated.
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