Oktoberfest waitress wins courage award for CPR response

A 25-year-old Oktoberfest waitress has received the Wiesn Courage Award after performing CPR on a guest who collapsed, BR reports. The man later died in hospital.

Daria Aigner, who works at the Augustiner-Festhalle beer tent, received the award from Munich Mayor Dominik Krause on Friday. She was also given a new traditional Oktoberfest dress.

Aigner was the first to realise that the 78-year-old guest was in danger after he lost consciousness in his wheelchair near the festival’s main entrance last Tuesday. She and colleague Silja Engl lifted him from the chair and began chest compressions. Helena Morawietz called emergency services, while Aigner’s twin sister, Frieda, supported the man’s wife. Other waiters and bar staff held up cloths to shield the scene from guests.

Aigner said she was proud she had not stood by and done nothing, and saw the award as recognition for the whole team. Krause praised the staff for helping without hesitation, saying that people at the festival needed to look out for one another. He said the city worked to make the Oktoberfest as safe as possible, but that quick help from people on the scene remained important.

Condrobs, the Bavarian association that presents the award, said the honour also recognised others who help at the festival without being noticed. Aigner said she hoped her actions would encourage more people to take a first-aid course, adding that anyone can learn chest compressions.

Condrobs has presented the award since 2017. The association also runs the WiesnGentleman prevention project, which promotes respectful behaviour, civic courage and shared responsibility, and provides street workers to help people, particularly young people, in difficult situations at the Theresienwiese.