Stuttgart Beer Festival

If you have ancestors who lived in Stuttgart, Germany, at any time since 1818, they most likely attended the annual Stuttgart Beer Festival, or Cannstatter Volksfest. This year's event ends on October 11 after almost three weeks of festivities.

My family tree doesn't have a connection to Stuttgart (other than it's the name of the ship that brought my German great-grandmother Susanna Truar to America in 1885), but my husband loves Oktoberfest and beer...and I love that it's a historical event that's been held for almost 200 years.

Stuttgart is the largest city and state capital of Baden-Württemberg. The Cannstatter Volksfest is considered the second largest beer festival in the world, after Munich's Oktoberfest. King Wilhelm I and Queen Katharina created the festival in 1818 to celebrate the harvest, two years after Europe's worst famine of the 19th century. Abnormal weather, including snow in the summer, led to extreme food shortages. Thousands of Germans left their homes to escape the famine, going to North America or Russia. After surviving such suffering, the country definitely had something to celebrate.

The Cannstatter Volksfest started as a one-day event for the locals and has grown to attract about 4 million visitors every year from many different countries. While beer, food, rides and special events may attract people today, it's an event based on tradition. Plus, it's interesting to think that someone in your family tree may have been at the festival during his or her lifetime.

Do you have any German ancestors who lived in Stuttgart?