Coasters
The beer mat (also called beer plate or beer felt ) serves primarily as a base for beer glasses and beer mugs . The thickness is 1.2 mm to 1.5 mm, it is usually made of cardboard ( cardboard lid ) and weighs between 5 grams and 10 grams. Round beer mats have a standard diameter of 107 millimeters in German-speaking countries , but square beer mats are also common.
history
In the 19th century, the wealthier people drank beer from beer silks with lids made of pewter or silver . Easier people used jars without lids. At that time, felts , known as beer felts , were used as coasters . These were mostly made of wool and could easily be washed when dirty. If you drank beer outdoors, you put these felts on the mug so that neither vermin nor leaves contaminated the beer. The name beer lid comes from this function of covering . These beer felts were mostly damp and encouraged the reproduction of bacteria, so they were quite unhygienic. Then there was the problem of their reuse. The damp beer felts were collected again by the waitress when they were cleared away and air-dried in beer felt stands, inserts or lined up like roof tiles.
From 1880, the Friedrich Horn cardboard factory and printing company in Buckau near Magdeburg punched beer glass coasters out of cardboard and printed various motifs on them. Finally, in 1892 , Robert Sputh from Dresden invented the forerunner of today's beer coaster, the so-called wooden felt plates or cast fiber coasters , in which the paper pulp was filled into round shapes and dried. These wooden felt panels already had a diameter of 107 millimeters, were 5 millimeters thick and were produced in the Sputhmühle in Mittelndorf .
Round beer mats with a diameter of 110 mm and a thickness between 4 and 8 mm were produced by a so-called beer plate machine . This machine processed a pulpy cardboard mass and was widespread in Germany between 1930 and 1960, but ultimately did not catch on.
In 1903 Casimir Otto Katz began in Murg Valley to industrially manufacture the beer coasters that are still in use today from local spruce wood in pulp board. They are made from fresh spruce wood. Its long fibers are very absorbent. A pulp is made from the tree trunks, from which water is then removed. In 2003, 10 million pieces were produced per day. In its prime, the Baden-Württemberg Katz Group delivered 3.5 billion beer coasters a year and thus held a world market share of 75%. However, it had to file for bankruptcy in April 2009 due to the decline in beer consumption. The Koehler Paper Group took over the Katz company in October 2009. At today's successor KATZ GmbH & Co. KG in Weisenbach , the beer glass coasters were printed in 6-color offset printing in the affiliated printing shop .
The CDU -Politiker Friedrich Merz introduced in 2003 under the slogan "Coaster control" its approach to tax reform before. The tax return should therefore be shortened so that it fits on a beer mat.
Other names
- Beer plate ;
- Bierfilz (in old Bavaria, Upper Franconia and Bavarian Swabia, in Franconia there is still talk of "Bierfilzla");
- Bierfuiz , Bierfuizl (common name in Bavaria);
- Bierplattl (rare in Austria);
- Coasters ;
- Beer glass coaster (BGU);
- English coaster in the Anglo-Saxon language area;
- W heritage coaster .
Functions of the beer mat
Main purpose
The main purpose of the beer mat is to soak up the condensation that forms on the outside of the cold glass wall due to the warm ambient air and runs downwards, so that it neither runs on the table or tablecloth, nor drips off the glass when it is raised and inclined to drink becomes.
Document character
Noted the innkeeper the amount and type on a beer mat by hand of the dispensed to the guest drinks and delivered food to those records later became the basis of his statement to make, it is therefore a document within the meaning of substantive criminal law to § 267 para. 1 of the Criminal Code ago . This also applies to beer coasters on which drink consumption is noted with pencil marks (see Kerbholz ). The other functions of the beer mat are pushed into the background by its document function. It fulfills all requirements of the concept of a document, in particular it contains a written declaration that is suitable and intended as evidence in legal transactions. He shows the exhibiting innkeeper from the external circumstances. As a document, it has a function of evidence that is equivalent to that of an invoice . However, the beer mat as an invoice is neither a prerequisite for the establishment nor for the restaurateur's payment claim to become due. From the point of view of sales tax law ( § 14 Paragraph 1 UStG ) it does not count as an invoice; neither is it a receipt .
The contract for the delivery of food and beverages has already been concluded orally beforehand, so that it is clear when the contract is concluded which payment obligations exist or will arise. An invoice is therefore not required for the performance obligations to arise; Because of the delivery quantities, which are usually not fixed in advance, the beer mat serves as evidence of the food and drinks ordered successively. Changes made by the guest contrary to the agreement are accordingly punishable as forgery (Section 267, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code), or the disappearance or destruction of the beer mat as a suppression of the documents ( Section 274, Paragraph 1, No. 1 of the Criminal Code).
Other possible uses
- With its imprint it serves as an advertising medium .
- Dissemination of sayings or memos or quotes.
- Note the drink consumption at the restaurant table by the operator, for example by means of lines (see above)
- Have a cover letter ("make a lid"): By keeping an "unpaid" beer mat, labeled with lines or a sum of money, some landlords grant their regular guests a deferred payment
- In some breweries and countries, the beer mat placed on the glass signals to the waiter that the guest does not want to drink any more beer.
- Square beer coasters - with rounded corners - are well suited for building multi-story houses of cards and are also often used as postcards for other purposes.
- Postal companies deliver beer coasters with an address if they are franked as large letters .
See also
Web links
- Beer mat database of the district of Lower Franconia on the Internet portal Historisches Unterfranken of the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patent 68499 for the manufacturing process from October 25, 1892
- ^ Welt Online from April 18, 2009, The beer mat is near the end
- ^ Des Zechers loyal cardboard comrade , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 7, 2009, page 19.
- ↑ Heidelberg University, winter semester 2014/15 (PDF; kB)
- ↑ Michael Heghmanns, Criminal Law for All Semesters - Special Part Volume 2, 2009, p. 405 .
