It started in 1990 in a gravel pit near Wacken with just six bands and 800 fans. Today, it draws people from the world over to Germany. Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner came up with the original idea after a few beers. They made their breakthrough in 1997. For the first time, attendance at the open-air concert exceeded 10,000. Now, 80,000 metalheads converge each year on the 'holy cow pasture' outside Wacken, a village in Schleswig-Holstein with only 1,800 inhabitants.