O' Zapft is... Part II

The ceremony of tapping the first barrel of beer has become one of the most popular traditions at the Oktoberfest. It was founded by mayor Thomas Wimmer in 1950, making it almost as important for the reputation of a Munich mayor as getting elected in the first place, as people started counting the number of strikes needed to drive the spigot into the barrel with a wooden hammer. During his first Oktoberfest, former mayor Christian Ude kept bludgeoning the barrel with a seemingly endless 7 strikes. But Ude kept on trying and soon managed to tap the barrels with a stunning 2 strikes only. His successor Dieter Reiter needed 4 strokes on his first try.