Seven Paulaner tap servers quit at Oktoberfest as waitstaff launch tolerance campaign

Walkout at the Paulaner tent

A workplace dispute at Munich's Paulaner festival tent led to the sudden resignation of seven tap servers on Monday evening, 28 September 2026. The conflict began when tent host Lorenz Stiftl discovered two employees secretly drinking beer in an anteroom located directly in front of a cold storage unit. Operating rules across the festival strictly forbid the consumption of alcohol while on shift, a regulation communicated to all staff members during their initial workplace briefing. After Stiftl confronted the pair over the rule breach, an argument escalated and the two employees left their positions. Five additional tap servers immediately laid down their work in solidarity with their colleagues. Differing accounts of the dispute emerged between staff members and the host family, while Stiftl's spokeswoman Annette Baronikians confirmed the confrontation over unauthorized alcohol consumption.

Emergency staffing and tent solidarity

The simultaneous departure of seven tap workers caused a brief operational bottleneck at the draft stations, though beverage service continued without patrons noticing any disruption. Regular tent waitstaff stepped in to pour beer directly, supported by two Paulaner master brewers who were present in the tent at the time. To bridge the labor shortage, Thomas Roiderer, the host of the neighboring Hacker festival tent, dispatched three of his own tap servers on loan for one hour. The Association of Munich Wiesn Hosts emphasized that alcohol consumption at work is not a minor infraction and cannot be accepted anywhere on the festival grounds. At the same time, the association commended the rapid mutual assistance among neighboring tent teams.

The Wiesn family sticks together and helps each other out.

Server campaign for tolerance

Alongside operational disruptions, festival staff initiated a public discussion through a social media campaign titled Bedienungen gegen rechts. The initiative published an approximately four-minute video on platforms including Instagram to coincide with the start of the Oktoberfest. In the recording, numerous servers argued that the world's largest folk festival must visibly stand for diversity, mutual respect, and tolerance alongside its cultural traditions. Campaign organizers stated to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that remaining silent was no longer adequate following recent regional political developments, including the state parliamentary election in Saxony-Anhalt where Alternative for Germany won.

We believe the Wiesn is political and a stance must be taken. The Wiesn naturally stands for tradition, but we demand that it simply stands for more tolerance as well.

Political limits and historical memory

The initiative also addressed changing social rhetoric in Germany, with one participating server noting in the clip that right-wing concepts have faced diminished pushback in everyday discourse. Furthermore, the video remembered the victims of the 26 September 1980 far-right bombing at the main entrance of the Oktoberfest, an attack that killed twelve visitors, injured approximately 200 people, and resulted in the death of the perpetrator. In response to the campaign, festival host association spokespersons Peter Inselkammer and Christian Schottenhamel confirmed that innkeepers reject all racism and sexism, promising to report violations to the authorities. However, the spokespersons declined to make wider political declarations, pointing out that official Oktoberfest operating regulations explicitly prohibit political events inside the tents.

We do not accept such violations in our Wiesn tents and also report them to the authorities.