Celebrating Our German Heritage Since 1979

 

Walhalla’s German heritage reaches back to the town’s very beginning. In 1848, German immigrants in Charleston organized the German Colonization Society under the leadership of John A. Wagener in search of a place to establish a new community. The Society purchased more than 17,000 acres in the South Carolina Upstate in 1849, and settlement began the following year. They named their new home Walhalla, a name drawn from Valhalla in Norse mythology and long associated locally with the phrase “Garden of the Gods.” From those beginnings, Walhalla grew from a small German settlement into the county seat of Oconee County while retaining a proud connection to its distinctive heritage.

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By the late 1970s, local civic leaders were looking for a way to share that heritage while introducing more visitors to Walhalla and the beautiful mountains and lakes surrounding it. Inspired by the success of other regional festivals, community leaders helped create the first Walhalla Oktoberfest in 1979. Their vision was not simply to attract visitors, but to celebrate Walhalla’s authentic German roots and bring the community together. German food, music and dancing were joined by arts and crafts, children’s activities and carnival rides, establishing traditions that would become part of Oktoberfest for generations.

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What began as a new community festival soon became an enduring Walhalla tradition. Through the decades, Oktoberfest celebrations have featured German bands and dancers, the Miss Oktoberfest pageant, arts and crafts, traditional foods, carnival rides, fireworks, races and even hot-air balloons and skydivers. Today, visitors continue to gather in Walhalla each October to celebrate alongside the community. More than four decades after that first festival, Walhalla Oktoberfest remains true to the spirit envisioned by its founders — a celebration of our heritage, our community and the special place we are proud to call home.

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Historical information courtesy of the Oconee History Museum.

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Visit the Oconee History Museum Oktoberfest Exhibit page at https://oconeehistorymuseum.org/why-we-celebrate/oktoberfest/

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