Munich prepares for Oktoberfest 2012

Anna Glaser posed with the traditional decoration ‘Gamsbart’ (beard of chamois) in the second hand shop ‘Lederhosen Wahnsinn’ in Munich. The 179th Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer festival, runs Sept. 22 – Oct. 7.

Bavarian leather trousers hang in the second hand shop ‘Lederhosen Wahnsinn.’

A worker tried to catch a ghost train decoration figure as it arrivef at the fair ground of the upcoming Oktoberfest beer festival at the Theresienwiese.

A Lufthansa air stewardess wearing a Dirndls posed with a neck choker inside a traditional Bavarian clothing store in Munich. The crew will wear the Lufthansa collection Dirndls, created in the typical Lufthansa colors, during three international flights before and during the 2012 Oktoberfest.

Workers set up the benches in a tent for the upcoming beer festival.

Valerie Stadler of Munich’s tourism office presented the official 2012 Oktoberfest beer mugs in Munich.

Cabaret artist Lizzy Aumeier and new Oktoberfest director Dieter Reiter also presented the official mugs. Preparations for the 2012 Oktoberfest have already been taking place for weeks.

A worker cleaned a beer tent at the construction site. In all, there will be 14 beer tents ready in time for the festival.

A man unloaded a typical decoration figure from a truck for the upcoming festival.

Entry to the Oktoberfest area, and all beer tents, is free.

A man arranged wooden decoration figures.

A worker inspected the decoration of a beer tent at the construction site.

Barbara Hostmann, Bavarian beer queen, tapped a barrel of beer during a celebration six weeks prior to the start of Oktoberfest, on Germany’s tallest mountain. Zugspitze at 9,718 feet above sea level, near the southern Bavarian resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, earlier this month.

Goasslschnoizer, wearing traditional Bavarian Lederhosen, breeches made of leather, sit on a bench during the celebration six weeks prior.

A Goasslschnoizer took part in a whip cracking interlude atop the mountain.