A record-breaking Oktoberfest: By the numbers

Visitors to Munich's annual celebration drank more beer than ever before. And that is not all they did

An Oktoberfest beer stein weighs nearly 3 pounds.
(Image credit: Corbis)

Oktoberfest, Munich's annual beer-soaked festival, came to a close Monday, and this year's visitors "drank their way into the history books." The 6.4 million people who showed up at the two-week celebration drank a record 7 million liters of beer. And that's not all they did. (Watch a German report about Oktoberfest festivities.) Here is a by-the-numbers look at what may have been the world's biggest beer blowout ever:

6.94 million

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117

Oxen roasted on spits to feed this year's crowds

200

Number of years Oktoberfest has been taking place; it was first held in 1810 to celebrate a royal Bavarian wedding

37

Children reported lost during this year's festivities

1

Number of tubas lost and then found

770

Number of lost IDs found

14

Number of huge beer tents. For the first time, authorities imposed a smoking ban in the tents. Staff had worried that, without smoke, the tents would be filled with unpleasant smells from toilets and spilled beer, reports Der Spiegel. "But there were no reports of any worse than usual stench — possibly because many visitors were too comatose to notice."

10,000

Approximate number of people a tent can accommodate at any given time

130,000

Number of beer glasses stolen from this year's festival

32

Injuries — including concussions and skull fractures — reported as a result of assaults with beer glasses by the end of the first week of this year's festival

19

Beer-stein-related assaults reported at the same point last year

2.9

The weight, in pounds, of the typical beer stein. It is "an effective striking tool," says Erich Schuller, a physicist at Munich University. "Thanks to the handle, it's easy to grip."

Sources: Der Spiegel (2), Gadling