Opa Oktoberfest: Greeks and Gemütlichkeit
By Bill Melonides
September 29, 2023
Knowing John’s affinity for a good sausage and German Fußball, I thought I’d share some of my family’s Oktoberfest food traditions.
Maybe two years ago in the span of one week both my brother and I had the same question posed to us independently:
Why is it that Oktoberfest is such a big deal for us and our family?
The answer to that question is complicated. It dates back to the late 60’s when our dad Spero, joined the Illinois Air National Guard, maybe a dozen years after his brief enlistment with the U.S. Navy.
His unit’s mission was to provide strategic in-flight refueling for Air Force and Navy aircraft. Each year they would deploy for short periods to overseas bases flying training missions for those pilots stationed abroad.
One specific mission each year was to Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany where his unit would be stationed for two weeks for Operation Creek Party. This is where he fell in love with the German culture. He would take his bicycle with him and ride all over the countryside into little villages and explore Bavaria during his downtime. On one early trip he noticed some locals that had gasoline powered contraptions (like a lawnmower engine) bolted to the front of their bicycles. He waved them down and asked them what the gizmo was.
Speaking no German, he couldn’t understand what they were saying, but he was able to see immediately from up close that it was a small engine that had a rubber fly wheel that turned the front wheel of the bicycle and allowed the rider to operate the bike as a Moped.
He wasted no time purchasing an engine for himself. Now motorized his range was increased tremendously, allowing him to explore further still. Around 1970 he attended his first Oktoberfest in Munich, a watershed moment. He was instantly drawn to the music, the food and as the Germans say, the “Gemütlichkeit”.
Gemütlichkeit is a German term used to convey an idea of a feeling of warmth, a state of friendliness, and of good cheer. My dad was not oblivious to the less glamorous side of Oktoberfest, but he chose to overlook the drunkenness and revel in the gemütlichkeit. He would return from Germany recharged and loaded up with bottles of German wines and cases of the local beer that he had personally sampled. Year after year his affection for this “spirit” grew.
It grew so much that on many Sunday mornings while driving to church we would all be subjected to the German hour on the radio. It was only broadcast for one hour each week and that unfortunately was from 9 to 10 on Sunday mornings. As kids we thought he was crazy, my mom thought he was crazy, even his mom thought he was crazy since we picked her up on the way to church. He was undeterred.
As the years went by, he took us to various local German restaurants, most of which are now sadly shuttered: Zum Deutschen Eck, The Golden Ox, Chicago Brauhaus…just to name a few. I’ll circle back to Spero later.
Another facet of our family’s connection to Oktoberfest comes from my mom’s side. In the sixties my aunt (my mom’s sister) married a German post-war immigrant from Karlsruhe. Memories of my uncle include his deep German voice, his aunt, “tante” Frieda and his uncle Erwin. I suspect that tante Frieda was the source of many German recipes, especially the wonderful Karlsruhe potato salad that my aunt mastered.
When my dad eventually retired from the service, he was no longer able to travel the world regularly. A year later however he was able to take my mom and go to Germany. Perhaps by coincidence (or not) my brother Steve was the pilot of the KC-135 on which they flew over to Germany. My mom was at last able to share with my dad so many of the experiences he had been telling her about for over 20 years.
In addition to the local German restaurants that I mentioned earlier, and the various local German fests that we would go to, my dad would periodically visit nearby European markets like Kuhn’s or Meyer’s and come home with loads of German groceries and we would eat German food for days. In his post military days, our Labor Day barbecue morphed into a mini-Oktoberfest. Spero would run out to the German stores and stock up on bratwurst, knackwurst, Thüringen and German beers and my mom would prepare a selection of different foods and sides. My two grandmothers would come over and on occasion my aunt would make the prized Karlsruhe potato salad as only she had the recipe. This tradition continued until my mom passed. For a while my brothers and I would pick up my dad and go to one of the remaining German restaurants for dinner, until he passed.
For several years following Spero’s death Oktoberfest came and went without fanfare. If I were able to get down to Lincoln Square for their yearly German fest I would, but as life became more complicated, it became more difficult to get there earlier in the day, and I did not enjoy being there later at night. I scanned our local area newspapers each year looking to see if a nearby town was having an Oktoberfest, but I wasn’t having any luck.
In 2015 I was preparing to cook dinner for a group of dads on a Princesses campout. The previous two campouts I had cooked Greek food and I wanted to mix it up. I took a walk through my mom’s recipe binder that I had kept when we sold my parent’s house. There I found the cache of German recipes that my mom had collected over the years. The campout menu was determined in that instant and it was decided that I would cook German food for the dads. Surprisingly, the Karlsruhe potato salad recipe was not among the recipes. I thought my mom had it but out of respect for my aunt, never made it, but It seems that my aunt had never shared that recipe with anyone, not even my mom. I called her and explained my plan and asked if she would give it to me and she did.
The campout was on a perfect cool night in early October, I remember vividly being with 15 dads huddled around someone’s iPhone watching the Cubs play the Mets in the playoffs. After the game they gathered around as I finished preparing the food and then they all dug in. They loved the food. One of the dads who was of German descent, said that he’d never had food as good in a German restaurant. As I watched them all eat, my heart was warmed, and my mind filled with memories of years past. I wished Spero could have been there with me. It was a very emotional night for me. It had been over 10 years since I had enjoyed these dishes and now with both my parents gone, I was again with friends sharing the gemütlichkeit.
A couple years later I was preparing to cook for another fall camp out and in keeping with my desire to mix up the menus, I asked the dads if there was anything in particular that they would want to eat.
One of the dads suggested, “maybe you could do the German food again?” I suppose that is how traditions begin because the fall campout for Princesses was an Oktoberfest for the rest of my tenure as chef. Last year I was contacted by my replacement and asked to share the recipes for the upcoming campout. I heard it was a tremendous success. The tradition lives on as others now spread the gemütlichkeit.
Over time I have assembled a good collection of German music appropriate for Oktoberfest. The music, I hope, contributes an atmosphere to the dinner lending even more gemütlichkeit. As the Oktoberfest season begins I’ll often play the music in the car for my girls on the way to school in the morning. Initially they would cringe at the sound of this foreign music until I explained to them how much their Papou Spero loved this music, how he forced us to listen to it it as children and how I have grown to appreciate it. They eventually began to tolerate it and now even they have their favorite songs. Sowing the seeds of gemütlichkeit.
When my daughters aged out of the Princess program, Scouts became their next step. My oldest is well on her way down her path to Eagle, while my youngest is content to just go on an occasional campout with dad. Since Scouts has so many more campouts, I’m no longer the solo chef like in Princesses. I only cook for two campouts each year. Covid had cancelled our 2020 season so two years ago in 2021 was the first year that I could introduce the troop to my full version of Oktoberfest. I cooked for all the adult Scout leaders, and I did my best to share the gemütlichkeit with a new group of friends. We all ate outside on a long table similar to what you’d find in a German brauhaus. It was another wonderful and emotional day. After the evening campfire the kids retired to their tents and the adults got to sit for a bit around the campfire and bask in gemütlichkeit.
A few weeks ago, my nephew visited Germany for the opening of Oktoberfest. He and his friends were there when the mayor of Munich tapped the first keg and cried out “O’zapft is!” I must say that I’m a bit jealous, but also proud. Now the next generation of our family is off on a journey to experience the gemütlichkeit for himself. Not too bad for a bunch of Greeks.
-30-
**All photos by Matthew J. Kelly
Bill is a professional photographer and self trained chef. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Chicago’s western suburbs where he is active in his church and a leader in his daughter’s Scout troop.
Comments 25
Sowing the seeds of gemütlichkeit.- what he said!
Getting hungry just reading about all of this.
On my first trip to Germany I was introduced to Mr. Franziskaner, and have been addicted ever since.
You do the food and I’ll bring all the Hefeweizen you can drink (if you’re not driving).
Fun article – thank you for writing it.
HY
Love the memories! Our German-heritage Lutheran church in the western ‘burbs is resurrecting the old Oktoberfest this year. Plans well under way, with the hope that we can promote some of those same feelings in the young people and give our “older’ generation a chance to drag out some of those old, handwritten recipes. Prost! And Opaa, too!!!
Yes, that is a demonstration of what it takes to instill an appreciation of a tradition and culture. We don’t need a (fill in the blank) Pride Month, or Hate Laws that enforce obeisance to a Progressive cause celebre. One man with respect and a desire to share with others. Thank you for sharing your heartwarming story.
That’s a great article. I wish you would have touched on some food stories a couple of weeks ago in Wilmette.
Trink, trink, Brüderlein trink,
lass doch die Sorgen zu Haus!
Meide den Kummer und meide den Schmerz
Dann ist das Leben ein Scherz –
Dang it. Tried to put an action in there, and it deleted it…
It was supposed to say:
{{lifting stein, singing along}}
Meide den Kummer und meide den Schmerz
Dann ist das Leben ein Scherz –
There. That’s better. Wish there was an edit function….
That’s OK, Ivy. “Der Geist” came through! Enjoying your capitals-perfect lyrics extension, I think I heard tubas.
And I sympathize, since I’ve often wished for an edit function myself, as in “Wish there were . . . .”
My #1 Request for the support staff is “Edit”, followed closely by a “thumb’s up” icon.
I agree, edit and thumbs up – we can skip the thumbs down…
Manspeaker has it right.
Sharing cultures from neighbor to neighbor is the best way, at a fest, or a picnic, or an after church social, on the back deck. There is time soak it all in, the food, the music and the dancing….Each has time to learn about and from the other. You might even learn some new dance steps.
If you’re really lucky you will meet some friends you will have for the rest of your life.
A delightful essay!
I am happy to see that there is no shouts of cultural appropriation here!
You make Chicagoans-especially Greek ones-proud!
Sharing cultures, usually with food (food is love….) is a great way to break down walls and barriers. And if your family carries on a tradition, so much the better. Besides a real Chicagoan can eat Greek today, Italian tomorrow, Friday night German and Ethiopian Saturday. Carry out is Vietnamese and the list goes on!
Any chance you might share the German Potato Salad Recipe with us?
I second that request!
I’m with Karen. Please share the recipe and I’ll make a fine German oktoberfest beer to wash it down.
In my early 20’s, we would go snowmobiling near Rhinelander Wi. On Sunday’s we would follow the locals to many different bars. They all had German food set out for us. I fell in love with a Lithuanian dish called Kugela. Potatoes, onion, bacon, eggs, bacon grease and whatever else they put in. Now that’s what I call health food!
Schuleins, how I miss this place. Especially the magic performed at your table by either the bartenders or wait staff. Replaced by a sports bar, ugh! So few of the great places left.
Sad.
We enjoyed Schulein’s so much that we planned a back-yard celebration. Put up a big tent, had 180 for dinner, live music, and I hired a magician from Schulein’s to just move around from table to table to do his favorite tricks, whatever he wanted to do. He brought a fellow magician with him, and they were having so much fun they stayed the whole evening, only charged me for the original contract. Truly one of the best parties we ever had, partly because many guests had never been to Schulein’s! Amazing men.
German food = Wurst Kitchen in Aurora. This little old sausage shop is a gem.
Hey Billy, long time no see! So, apparently it’s in our blood – regardless of the cuisine! We Greeks eat when we’re happy, we eat when we’re sad, when we’re lonely (hardly ever) and when we get hungry at last, looking for a mezedaki! At any rate, I wonder why the Germans crafted such a long and difficult term to express their “idea of a feeling of warmth, a state of friendliness, and of good cheer.” Known for our brevity, we simply say “Opa!” Bravou Billy, keep on researching new excuses with which to enjoy a few brewskies!!! Eis Anotera! And thanks Yianni for the recipes…..like I needed more things to eat that aren’t as healthy as they should be!!! As we say in Greek….AX!
Delightful column!
Bill, I really enjoyed reading about your Family and food stories.
Food is a great way to learn other cultures.
My Grandfather was born in the Pilsen neighborhood in the late nineteenth century.
His parents, German immigrants, had a large family and were poor.
My Mother loved German food and made a great potato salad. Sadly, I don’t have that recipe.
Happy Opa Ocktoberfest!
Bill,
Your dad introduced me to Greek cuisine over 40 years ago at Santorini in Greek town. My first visit to Greek town back then. Since then my polish heritage has always kept Greek food in my top priorities. We were both in the chemical business for many years.
Thanks for the article and for your support to Kass!
Hungry just seeing that picture. I am preparing for my Octoberfest next weekend. Starting to marinate the meat for sauerbraten today. My adult kids always look forward to coming for dinner. Besides sauerbraten; spaetzle, red cabbage, sauerkraut & my moms apple slices complete the meal. And plenty of German bier to quench the thirst. Thanks for a great article. Prost
I, too, would LOVE the recipe for the German potato salad! I’ll start a new tradition with my Schubert clan. As a native Chicagoan, I read this/these columns which take me back to memories I thought had disappeared. Please consider doing it pronto as tomorrow is Octoberfirst!!