What do you actually know about the Oktoberfest bombing on September 26, 1980? To be honest, we don't know that much so far. The attack was the largest right-wing terrorist attack in Germany with 12 dead and 221 injured. The perpetrator also died at the site. A new memorial at the Theresienwiese is now intended to help Munich residents and other visitors learn more about what exactly happened back then.

The Oktoberfest likes to tell the story of an ideal world with beer-soaked international understanding, imperial weather and lots of beautiful people in traditional costume. However, anyone who has ever been to the Oktoberfest halfway sober knows that this is not always true. What should also get more attention: the Oktoberfest bombing on September 26, 1980. 12 visitors lost their lives on this Wiesn evening and 221 were injured, the perpetrator also died.

Until now, a memorial by Bavarian sculptor Friedrich Koller at the northern edge of the Theresienwiese - near the main entrance to the Oktoberfest - commemorated the assassination. Every year, a memorial event was held here with the survivors - driven and organized by the DGB Youth Munich. The commitment of the City of Munich was always rather limited. It is only in recent years that the city has developed an awareness that Munich must remember this attack. And with a new documentation site that tells more about what happened in 1980.

© Luba Schwirtz

A new documentation site was inaugurated to mark the 40th anniversary

This year - on the 40th anniversary - a new documentation site was inaugurated on the Theresienwiese, exactly opposite the old memorial. The new documentation site was designed together with the survivors and serves as an information center open to the public. 234 human-sized silhouettes are depicted, either individually or in groups, in memory of the victims. Each figure and each group also contains an accompanying text on which information about the attack, the city's laborious attempts to come to terms with it, the investigations and the victims can be accessed in digital or analog form. Visitors can walk among the figures and obtain comprehensive information about the right-wing terrorist attack and its consequences. They can also use a QR code to log in at the individual stations and listen to texts on their cell phones.

© Manuel Runge

The documentation site is barrier-free and free of charge. And as it is an exhibition in a public space, it is also open throughout the day. You can find all further information here.

This content has been machine translated.