More cameras alone do not make the Wiesn any safer. What matters is how quickly footage can be turned into a situational picture, and how quickly that situational picture can trigger a response. This is precisely the aim of the revised security concept for the 2026 Oktoberfest: technology, AI, crowd monitoring and emergency services are to work more closely together.
When the 191st Oktoberfest begins on 19 September, the focus will therefore be less on individual security measures and more on how they work together. The police, the city and the organisers have responded in particular to the occasional overcrowding of a section of Wirtsbudenstraße in 2025. Surveillance management, visitor management and communication have been fine-tuned.
New control centre consolidates information
At the heart of the system is the new security control centre. Thirty digital workstations and around 22 square metres of screen space enable different sources of information and camera footage to be displayed simultaneously. The police, fire service, ambulance service, security managers, the event office and the festival management can assess developments based on a shared situational picture. A camera image alone does not provide a definitive answer as to whether intervention is required. It is only by combining multiple pieces of information and evaluating them that observation can be turned into a reliable assessment of the situation.
AI supports crowd monitoring
More than 50 cameras at 35 locations are available for the city’s crowd monitoring system. Separately, the police operate 56 of their own video cameras for security and law enforcement. The crowd monitoring system is supported scientifically by Fraunhofer IOSB. The GeoVID experimental system uses AI to analyse video footage for crowd densities and movement flows. Heatmaps visualise areas of high density; at the same time, movement directions can be traced. Faces or individual characteristics are not analysed; only anonymous results are stored. The University of the German Armed Forces in Munich is also investigating models for simulating crowd flows. The aim is to be able to predict critical developments earlier and simulate possible measures. Operational decisions remain with the responsible authorities.
Human situation assessment remains central
At the same time, Munich is relying on crowd spotting. On-site personnel supplement the technical analysis with their observations and knowledge of local conditions. Multilingual public address announcements are available for critical visitor flows. This also places greater emphasis on the time between situation assessment, decision-making and communication.
Shorter response times in the emergency response plan
In addition to the first-aid station in the service centre, a second station is being set up at the ‘Familienplatzl’ to reduce response times. This is supplemented by emergency doctor and ambulance vehicles, as well as a mobile CT scanner and two blood diagnostic units.
Vehicle protection and drone defence
Additional vehicle security barriers protect heavily frequented areas against vehicle-ramming attacks, and the knife-free zone has been extended. A no-fly zone is once again in force around the Theresienwiese. According to its own statements, the Munich police have a plan in place for the detection and defence against unauthorised drones; technical details are not being published.
The security concept thus ranges from perimeter protection, through video analysis and crowd management, to airspace surveillance – all linked by a central question: how quickly can information be turned into effective intervention? The new introduction is more powerful because it immediately puts forward a central thesis: it is not the technology alone that is the key, but the shortening of the chain from detection to response. [CN]
