As Dry January comes to an end, those who took up the challenge of abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year may be looking forward to their first drink in February. Others might be rethinking their relationship with alcohol altogether.
Similarly, a growing number of people in Germany are taking a more conscious approach to drinking.
Consuming beer and wine has long been an integral part of culture in the land of Oktoberfest.
Not only is drinking in German public spaces like parks tolerated, teenagers as young as 14 are legally allowed to consume alcohol when accompanied by their parents. Germans drink almost twice the global average.
All over Germany, pubs, bars, breweries and restaurants remain important places for social interaction that revolve around alcohol.
Beer remains the favorite drop. Germany produces over 5,000 varieties in around 1,500 breweries, many with a long history.
Pure beer brewed by monks
Way back in the 1st century AD, the Roman historian Tacitus described the Germanic people as rather passionate beer drinkers. In the Middle Ages, Germanic monks diligently brewed beer in their monasteries, both for their own consumption and later to sell.
In 1516, the Purity Law was enacted in Bavaria to control beer quality and to ensure that only three ingredients were used: water, barley and hops. It’s the oldest food law still in existence, and most local beers still brag that they pass the purity test.
The first beer garden opened about 200 years ago in Munich, the city that hosts arguably the biggest beer drinking celebration on Earth: Oktoberfest.
Bavaria, the southern German state that hosts the annual beer, food and culture festival, produces more than half of the country’s beer.
A godly wine tradition
“Beer is made by men, wine by God,” said Martin Luther, who sparked the Protestant Reformation in Germany in the early 1500s.
For centuries, Germans have produced a wide variety of both red and white wines with hard-to-pronounce names like Spätburgunder, Weissburgunder or Müller-Thurgau — while Riesling is the most common variety. The wines are mostly grown across southwest valley regions such as Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Baden or Mosel.
Sekt, or sparkling wine, a version of champagne, also flows freely across Germany. The biggest sparkling wine brand, Rotkäppchen, which means Red Riding Hood, dates back to 1856.
The brand was taken over by the East German regime after World War II. But Rotkäppchen was privatized after German reunification and has thrived ever since, selling hundreds of millions of bottles of bubbly annually while acquiring West German brands like Mumm.
Alcohol consumption in decline
But beer and wine consumption is waning in Germany.
Personal beer consumption reduced by almost a quarter between 2013 and 2023, from around 107 liters to 88 liters annually.
Wine consumption also fell by about one liter in 2023 from a year earlier.
Germans of all ages want to avoid the diseases associated with alcohol — and the calories. Alcohol-free beer sales have also doubled in 10 years.
Beer and wine might be part of Germany’s cultural identity, yet 1.6 million people living in the country are addicted to alcohol, a problem that can’t be trivialized.
This article was adapted from the DW video program, Meet the Germans.
