Drinking culture in Europe
Under drinking culture in Europe is understood of alcoholic drinking, preparing and presenting drinks and beverages, as stimulants are called - such as coffee , tea and cocoa in Europe. Sociologists and historians generally only use the term in connection with alcohol . All necessary utensils (dishes, cutlery) and the special places to drink are also considered part of the culture.
In almost all regions of the world there is not only a food culture , but also the consumption of drinks is associated with certain rituals or ceremonies .
General
There are a number of scientific studies on the history and importance of luxury foods . In the sociological publications on drinking culture, alcohol is in the foreground, as it is by far the oldest known drinkable stimulant. Coffee, tea and cocoa, on the other hand, were only introduced in the West in modern times.
alcohol
In the scientific literature, communities are sometimes divided into groups based on their attitudes towards alcoholic beverages. One possible subdivision is that of predominantly abstinent cultures, in which regular alcohol consumption is not socially acceptable, and into non-abstinent cultures, in which alcohol is considered an everyday drink. According to Harry Levine, abstinence cultures can be found in Scandinavia and Great Britain , where high-proof spirits play a bigger role, while southern European countries are non-abstinent, but prefer wine above all. Cultures of abstinence in Europe are historically strongly influenced by Protestantism , while there have never been any significant abstinence movements in Catholic countries . Even today, for example, there are groups of Alcoholics Anonymous in Germany and Switzerland with large Protestant populations , but hardly in Catholic Austria.
The German sociologist Wolf Wagner makes the following classification :
- Alcohol-prohibitive cultures with a general ban on alcohol. This includes Islamic countries and communities.
- Cultures that are exclusive of alcohol and only allow alcohol in limited quantities on clearly defined, rare occasions. This includes the Jewish culture.
- Alcohol- permissive cultures where alcohol consumption is permitted on certain occasions. A distinction is made here between cultures in which alcohol is an everyday drink and, for example, is consumed with food, but in smaller quantities (including Spain , Italy , Greece and France ), and cultures in which alcohol is mainly consumed on weekends and at parties then often in larger quantities, for example in Scandinavia .
- Alcohol-determined cultures in which many occasions of everyday culture are closely related to alcohol consumption, such as birthdays , weddings , baptisms , funerals , company debuts, etc. Drunkenness is permitted to a certain extent. Wagner includes Germany , Austria , Switzerland and the Netherlands .
- Excessive alcohol cultures in which alcohol consumption is considered the norm and intoxication is seen as a sign of masculinity, strength, generosity, etc. High-proof alcoholic beverages are predominantly consumed. Wagner counts many Slavic countries among them.
red wine
Wheat beer
Mixed drink B52
Social aspects
There were and are rules for drinking alcohol in all known cultures.
"Drinking, in every culture, is a rule-governed activity, hedged about with prescriptions and norms concerning who may drink how much of what, when, where, with whom, in what manner and with what effects."
"Drinking (of alcohol) is a regulated activity in all societies, limited by regulations and standards with regard to who drinks how much of what, when, where, with whom, in what way and with what effects."
This also applies to Islamic societies, where alcohol is only permitted as medicine.
The well-known studies show that there is above all one cross-cultural rule, namely the social rejection of solitary drinking . Alcohol consumption is seen as a social activity that serves to establish and maintain social contacts. Anyone who drinks at home alone is suspected of being an alcoholic . It is also common to share alcoholic beverages with others. Consuming them alone is therefore considered unsocial.
In all European countries there is plenty of drinking, especially on festive occasions. Alcohol and celebrations are culturally almost inseparable. However, there are countries in which drinking culture is part of everyday life, so that alcohol is served even without a special occasion; this is the case, for example, in the Mediterranean countries of Italy , Greece , Spain and France . Sociologists differentiate between societies with an "integrated drinking culture" as in the Mediterranean countries mentioned, where no special occasion for drinking is necessary, and nations with an "ambivalent drinking culture", where alcohol is indeed socially accepted, but not without any reason, as in England and in Germany.
This can lead to misunderstandings for foreign visitors, for example in France, as an English author explains:
“Drinks may be offered at ten o'clock in the morning, for example. […] What are we celebrating? During the midday meal, wine is served. What fun! What are we celebrating? The bars are open all afternoon, and people seem to be drinking. What a riot! What are we celebrating? Pastis is served at six o'clock. Whoopee! These people certainly know how to celebrate. More wine is served with dinner. […] ”
“Drinks are offered at 10 am, for example. What are we celebrating? Wine is served at lunch. What fun! What are we celebrating? The bars are open in the afternoon and people are drinking. What a happening! What are we celebrating? Pastis is served at 6 p.m. Excellent! These people know how to celebrate. There's more wine with dinner. "
In England this would only be conceivable on a special holiday, in France it is part of everyday life.
Alcohol is also given symbolic meaning . Champagne, for example, is a drink for special, festive occasions in Central Europe. One publication mentions that in Austria, sparkling wine has a more formal, official character, while schnapps is the typical drink at private gatherings. The symbolic meaning is also made clear by the fact that offering schnapps during a conversation can lead to the address changing from the formal you to the familiar you .
The type of drink is also used as a status indicator, because not all alcoholic beverages are considered “equivalent”. Imported drinks often have a higher status than local ones , and consumers are aware of the respective image . In Poland, for example, wine is considered a middle class drink, while local beer and vodka are the lower class drinks. Hence, Polish students prefer wine. In France, on the other hand, wine is an everyday drink and has no special status. Young academics prefer imported beer here. Drinks can also become symbols of national identity : Guinness stands for Ireland, whiskey for Scotland, ouzo for Greece. The national drink to drink, can be an act of patriotism are.
There are restrictive rules on alcohol consumption by women, children and young people in all cultures. They are expected to drink significantly less alcohol than men. Almost everywhere there are also differences between alcoholic beverages that are considered “male” and those that are considered “female”. The “women's drinks” contain less alcohol, are considered “lighter” and are often sweeter. Liqueurs, cocktails and sparkling wine, for example, are considered typical women's drinks, in contrast to schnapps and beer. In general, it is considered unfeminine for women to consume “hard” drinks. Even today, drinking beer is sometimes frowned upon by women (especially in rural regions), while men are frowned on drinking “women's drinks”.
It is controversial among sociologists whether the alcohol restrictions for women and adolescents are primarily for health reasons or whether they should symbolically emphasize the social hierarchy according to which certain drinks with a higher status are reserved for adult men only.
history
Early civilizations
The oldest alcoholic drink is beer , which was brewed in the Middle East around 13,000 years ago . Wine was made around 4000 BC. Cultivated and drunk in ancient Egypt . At that time, millet and rice beer was introduced in East Asia, and corn beer in America . In Mesopotamia the priests received five liters of beer a day; so it was considered an everyday drink. In Egypt, pharaohs and priests drank to the point of intoxication on festive days, and the loss of consciousness that occurred after excessive consumption was considered sacred.
Antiquity
The ancient Greeks and Romans did not drink beer but rather wine mixed with water. Anyone who drank wine straight was considered a drunkard. While drunkenness was frowned upon in everyday life, it was almost a duty at the Greek drinking bouts ( symposia ). As in Egypt, intoxication was considered to be a special condition that enabled contact to a higher world, and thus had a mystical character. The Romans took over the drinking party from the Greeks, but without any spiritual elements. It was about the pleasure of drinking.
The Teutons were a people of beer and mead drinkers . They imagined that the gods also drink alcohol. Intoxication was also part of the social life of the Teutons; there was supposedly a collective drinking compulsion on important occasions. The Christian missionaries took action against this drinking culture with bans. However, they could not prevent the drinking habits of the Romans from being adopted within the Roman Empire and merging with those that already existed.
"Drinking love of the Germans, who [anyway, add.] Already devoted to drinking, also accepted the health drinking of the Greeks and Romans."
Due to the poor water quality, much more alcohol was drunk in Central Europe until modern times than it is today; Wine and beer were everyday drinks and were considered food . While wine was drunk south of the Alps, beer dominated north of the Alps.
middle Ages
During regular alcohol consumption in the Middle Ages was considered perfectly normal, there were efforts in the early Middle Ages, to curb the excessive mines to intoxication. Before the coronation in Rome, every German emperor was asked: “Do you want to keep yourself sober with God's help?” Charlemagne was a supporter of moderation in drinking and issued prohibitions against compulsory drinking in societies, albeit unsuccessfully.
In Germany, a large part of the population, including children, consumed beer soup in the morning until well into modern times . Outside of meals, men's drinking generally took on the character of a feast . The drinking habits demanded that a drink offered could not be refused, that would have been taken as an insult . As long as the fellow drinkers were still drinking, nobody was allowed to stop, because that was considered a sign of weakness and unmanliness. As chroniclers report, there was often drinking until unconsciousness. Drinking habits dictated fighting drinking , a form of duel without weapons. Anyone who wanted to evade these rules became an outsider and was socially marginalized, or even declared an enemy.
From Grimmelshausen the statement has been handed down that while drinking so-called “the sweat of fear broke out, but it had to be drunk” so as not to be naked or to be ostracized. Noble gentlemen had the advantage that they could sometimes send their servants to replace them, who then had to drink in their name. This was partly due to the fear of being poisoned while drinking.
Even if there was a lot of drinking in other European countries, the Germans in particular had acquired the reputation of being particularly fond of drinking in the course of the Middle Ages. There is an anecdote that Emperor Charles V proudly pointed to his bodyguard while taking a walk with Spanish nobles and said: “See, aren't the Germans brave, strong, handsome, straight men?” To which a Spaniard is said to have replied: "It's true [...] if only they don't drink so much." According to tradition, there were certain regional differences. In the 16th century, the provinces of Saxony , Mark Brandenburg , Pomerania , Mecklenburg and other regions in northern Germany were popularly known as "the great drinking countries" because of their supposedly particularly high alcohol consumption.
It was not only the nobility who spoke abundantly to alcohol on appropriate occasions, but also farmers and craftsmen. The guilds had their own drinking regulations , also known as comments. The journeymen in particular often showed a tendency to extensive carousing parties, which resulted in corresponding orders from the authorities, in which, for example, the habit of staying away from work on Monday was threatened with penalties. The origin of the expression Blue Monday , in the scientific dictionaries mostly derived from the liturgical color of the non-working Lent Monday , is sometimes associated with the craftsmen drinking on the Blue Monday .
Modern times
Since the 16th century in particular, secular and ecclesiastical authorities have issued ordinances against these drinking habits. Some of the so-called drinking rooms have been closed and the serving times have been shortened. Emperor Friedrich III. only drank wine mixed with water at dinner. His son Maximilian I forbade the usual drinking , i.e. the drinking duel, several times by means of a Reich farewell - unsuccessful. The princes refused allegiance on this point, and indeed quite demonstratively at the Reichstag .
In the 16th century, associations for aristocrats were established to promote moderation in drinking. So there was the Brotherhood of Celibacy and the Order of Temperance . The best-known order was the Order of Temperance , which Landgrave Moritz von Hessen founded in 1600. The statutes required members not to "get drunk" for two years and not to drink more than seven cups of wine with a meal. So it was by no means about giving up alcohol altogether, but simply about avoiding the otherwise almost inevitable full intoxication. Most of the associations disbanded after a while, they did not have a broad impact.
Friedrich I of Prussia again issued a General Edict in 1711 to stop drinking . Leaders of Protestantism and Calvinism in particular preached against the habit of excessive drinking. The quote from Martin Luther has come down to us: “Every country must have its own devil [... and] our German devil will be a good wineskin, and must be called Sauff, that he is so thirsty and bright, the one who drinks so much wine and beer cannot be chilled [...] “ According to tradition, the clergy also took part in drinking parties and by no means lived moderately.
Krünitz considers the increased adoption of French customs and the general refinement of social life in aristocratic circles to be an essential reason for the fact that alcohol consumption in the 18th century fell noticeably, at least in this class. Dance companies came into fashion where, out of consideration for the women, tea, lemonade and punch were drunk above all .
"Among the other peoples of modern times, the Russians and Poles come closest to the old Germans in their drinking addiction," says Krünitz. The Polish upper class regularly gets drunk on wine and liqueur , the farmers on beer and brandy. However, even genteel people sometimes drink brandy for breakfast. If someone gives a private company, it is his duty as the host to empty a glass for the welfare of each guest upon arrival. At the table, the first toasts would be made after the soup, and ten or twelve of these rounds often followed. In the 18th century, the Russian upper class mainly drank wine from France and Spain, high-proof spirits were only drunk by the common people, especially vodka , but also millet beer and kvass . Peter the Great introduced the medal for drunkenness, intended as a deterrent, in 1714 .
Krünitz also attested that the English and Scots were very fond of drinking. The English nobility prefer Portuguese and Spanish wines, as well as local beers such as ale and porter . Punsch and grog are also popular drinks . “In general, the English love drinking bouts; They therefore eat very quickly at their banquets [...] in order to plant the porter and wine bottles as soon as the tablecloth has been removed. ”The increasing popularity of tea drinking is gradually reducing alcohol consumption among the upper classes. To lie drunk under the table after a party is now "bad news". In Scotland men and women alike drink whiskey punch in large quantities to the point of drunkenness, which is almost everyday. In Ireland only the common people drink excessively.
Krünitz also names the Scandinavians as heavy drinkers. In Sweden lunch is started with a glass of brandy to stimulate digestion . In Denmark was Eyerschnaps very popular today as eggnog known. Otherwise, the encyclopedia certifies the Danes as well as the Dutch to be rather moderate in drinking, similar to the southern European nations.
In the 18th century the brandy , which had long been sold in small doses in pharmacies as a medicine , became popular with the lower classes in Germany. It was now made as a schnapps from potatoes instead of grain, making it much cheaper than beer or wine. It also suppressed feelings of hunger and warmed up in the cold season. The excessive consumption, which was spreading more and more among the poor, was referred to by the term brandy plague and was increasingly condemned and fought against in the 19th century. In England there was a similar phenomenon known as the gin epidemic as early as the 18th century. Brandy and gin were cheap and significantly more strong than other alcoholic beverages; they were soon regarded as "the mob's drink". For the first time a distinction was made between “good alcohol” and “bad alcohol”, and the first publications on alcoholism appeared ; before that, alcohol consumption had never been associated with illness.
The increased serving of schnapps changed the drinking habits insofar as the intoxication now set in much faster than with wine or beer. In the “better circles”, alcohol consumption was no longer used as a form of duel. Some historians argue that industrialization had a clear “disillusionment effect” because, although the work in factories was easier to endure with a certain alcohol level, it was not manageable when drunk and led to dismissals or accidents at work. In Germany and England, the abstinence movement gained influence over public opinion on alcohol consumption and intoxication in the 19th century. The general introduction of bottom-fermented beers with a higher alcohol content, which had long been common in Bavaria , led in the 19th century to the increased use of this drink by the north and east German bourgeoisie. In 1887, the spirits tax was increased sharply in the German Empire, which suddenly reduced consumption by 40 percent.
The consumption statistics also show that alcohol consumption decreased as coffee became popular and a national drink. Alcohol, on the other hand, gradually turned from an everyday drink into a luxury food .
Class-specific drinking culture
farmers
The peasant drinking culture in Germany until the 19th century corresponded to the drinking customs that were binding for all classes for centuries, namely drinking, especially for health, repeated drinking groups in society and brotherhood drinking. “In the peasant world, drunkenness and drunken behavior were not considered embarrassing or offensive [...] At the peasant festivals, intoxication [...] was the general aim; a condition that was sought by women and men alike. "
Up until the 18th century, beer was the everyday drink for farmers. For a long time they brewed themselves for everyday use, only for celebrations they had to get the beer from a brewery . The brewing period lasted from November to February. After 1800, brandy increasingly replaced beer in its importance.
Strong beer was mainly drunk at festivals and on certain occasions. For engagement in Northern Germany that was Lobelbier mandatory. The wedding began with a drink together before going to church, and after the wedding dinner they danced and drank into the morning. At a baptism , the parents were obliged to invite the relatives and the midwife to drink, the Kindelbier . After a funeral there was the grave beer .
Craftsman
As with the peasants, the old drinking customs were preserved for a long time in the craftsmen's guilds , especially among the journeymen who practiced various drinking rituals. Every journeyman brotherhood had detailed drinking rules and penalties for breaking rules during drinking bouts. The so-called “Blue Monday” as a non-working day, on which people drank together, was considered the right of journeymen, but this has been increasingly questioned since the 18th century. In 1857 a Hamburg newspaper said that the journeymen “withdrew from work on all Mondays of the year, committed all sorts of messes and debauchery on the same, made the celebration of Blue Monday a corporate matter, punished those of their fellow journeymen who did not spend the day at the inn and compel everyone present to drink [...] ”.
Drinking manners
toast
A brief speech in honor of someone present or absent, followed by a request for those present to raise their glasses is called a toast . This is especially needed on festive occasions. After the speech, the participants drink together.
Nudge
When toasting, all drinking people raise their drinking vessels to the middle so that they touch each other with a swing and clink. Usually this process is accompanied by common toasts (see also Prosit ). This ritual is often traced back to an alleged medieval custom, which was supposed to prevent poisoning by the drinking companions by mixing a few drops from the vessels when toasting them. In all likelihood, however, this was not a suitable method for this purpose; It was much more effective for all members of a round table to drink from one or more common vessels, which had long been the norm. A variant of this is toasting, in which the glass is visibly lifted over long distances, indicating that it is bumped, without the glasses touching.
Student associations
A developed drinking culture places the daily intake of fluids in the service of a higher cause, for example in maintaining the social relationships of those who drink together (see also ritual ). Alcoholic beverages are often considered particularly effective here. The simplest form is to “ toast ” and drink at the same time, in pairs or in larger groups, often after a speech (English toast ), for the mutual benefit or for one or more third parties.
In the German-speaking area, the most pronounced form of socially reinforcing drinking culture has been preserved in the student associations , which in the course of the 19th century developed from casual evening eating, drinking and smoking into the more formal event forms of the pub and the Kommers .
A particularly ritualized form of drinking is the bottle salamander , which probably dates back to a drinking custom of the 18th century .
Typical for the development of student associations in Germany, especially in the second half of the 19th century, are written beer comments that regulate drinking behavior in the pub in detail - up to and including strict sanctions in the event of misconduct. Youthful high spirits also led to the development of the " beer boy ", which is still widely used today .
Drinking contests
In the English-speaking world, binge drinking is defined as excessive alcohol consumption up to loss of control, sometimes up to unconsciousness . The analogous translation would be fighting drinking or drinking contests , the historical equivalent is drinking . The appearance of binge drinking is most pronounced in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States, although in recent years it has become increasingly popular with young people across the European continent.
The historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch takes the view that in the lower strata of the Central European population, the drinking habits of the Middle Ages have partly been maintained until today. The old rituals of drinking and drinking competitions still have a meaning, especially in the working class. This should be seen as an explanatory approach for binge drinking , although it does not explain the different forms in different countries.
An explanation by Roderick Phillips is more revealing: “In the second half of the 18th century, a drinking culture spread among English men of better society, in which a lot counted who took a lot.” During this time the phrase “drunk as a lord” emerged ". The British drinking culture of the upper classes developed accordingly in a different direction than that of the same classes on the continent, which gradually reduced their alcohol consumption.
see article binge drinking
The pub round
The ritual , to invite each other to thereby produce an alcoholic drink and a form of attachment is, according to studies almost universally disseminated. In German usage, the terms "spend one" or "spend a round" stand for this custom. There are also unwritten rules for this drinking custom, which, interestingly, are in turn the same in all the countries examined, in the USA as well as in Europe and Australia.
The statements of the American sociologist Sherri Cavan about the rules of a drinking round are therefore to be regarded as generally applicable: “Once it has been declared that a round has started, all participants are obliged to keep up, regardless of their personal mood at the moment. In this situation, one cannot insist on paying only for oneself. If one of the group has to leave the bar after the first round, he will usually declare that he will spend the first round [...] Although it is a certain injustice to him to pay more drinks than he can drink himself , the group will accept his offer, or another lap participant agrees to take over the first lap and to pay a glass as a gift to anyone who has to leave the restaurant soon. [...] When the round drinking has started, each participant is obliged to take at least one round. This means that if a group consists of four participants, at least four rounds must be completed. After that, either a new cycle of rounds can begin or the participants can continue drinking at their own expense. [...] "
The ritual of the drinking round is de facto not a gesture of giving, but a form of barter, because everyone basically pays for the amount they drink. The only exception is the so-called “local round”.
The drinking place
Alcohol is almost always consumed in company. Very often this happens in a pub . In turn, certain unwritten rules apply to behavior in a drinking establishment. “Everyone present here, regardless of whether they know one another or not, has the right to engage the other in a conversation and the duty to be addressed in turn. While in all other places contact with strangers is usually limited, open-mindedness and responsiveness is the basic rule of the pub [...]. "
The bar owner or innkeeper has a special role because on the one hand he acts as a host, on the other hand he is a businessman, because he demands money for the drinks. Schivelbusch speaks of the " commercialization of hospitality ". A forerunner of the pub was the inn , which used to be a restaurant, bar and inn at the same time. Another forerunner was the tavern . Until well into modern times, the guest room in the inn was not separate from the kitchen and the innkeeper's private rooms; this separation did not take place until 1800.
The typical day for pubs bar , English bar , came only in 1900 in England as a counterpart to the counter in stores. Soon the custom established itself to drink standing at the counter instead of sitting down. This was also due to the growing popularity of spirits such as brandy and gin , which are tipped in one go, which is usually not the case with beer and wine. Schivelbusch describes the English gin palaces of the 19th century as “drinking factories”, in which 400 customers can be “processed” within an hour.
Karl Kautsky explained in 1890: “The English tavern is organized very differently than the German one […] (It) is just a shop selling spirits; it is arranged in such a way that no one feels tempted to stay in there longer than is absolutely necessary to empty his glass [...] There is no trace of sociability, an exchange of thoughts. ”The principle of the English pubs was that of Sales maximization.
Since then, most of the guests in England prefer to have their drinks at the counter, whereas in Germany this is usually only done by regular guests. From this it can be concluded that the length of stay in German pubs is longer than in English.
In the 19th century, different drinking places for different classes and different needs emerged in Germany. In addition to alcoholic beverages, the restaurants also offered food, there were pubs for workers, artist pubs, standing beer halls for hurried consumers and so-called beer palaces of the breweries , in which there was only the in-house beer and inexpensive dishes. Meetings and events often took place in the large halls, always with beer served. In Munich the Hofbräuhaus was the first of its kind, in Berlin the Tivoli , in Bremen the Thon-Halle . In 1892 the Aschinger brothers opened the first beer spring in Berlin ; 20 years later there were around 50 of them in the capital. The recipe for success consisted of inexpensive standard dishes such as peas with bacon and fresh draft beer. The guests were not looking for comfort here , but wanted something to eat and drink as quickly as possible. Outside of Munich, the popularity of the beer halls decreased noticeably after the First World War .
Drinking label
Since drinking in community always also has a social function, rules for drinking together, such as the order in which to drink, were developed early on. With the emergence of rules of etiquette for behavior at the table, rules for drinking also emerged, which can be described as etiquette . These regulations vary depending on the cultural area and were also subject to historical change. Today there is a special drinking label, especially for the enjoyment of wine , which wine connoisseurs are required to know.
There are differently shaped wine glasses for different types of wine, the selection is not reserved for individual taste. For example, burgundy should be served in a balloon glass, while Bordeaux should be served in a more tulip-shaped one to optimize the taste. In the restaurant, the waiter first checks the quality of the wine before the guest takes an obligatory sample sip. For larger parties, the guests of honor (if available) are poured first, then the women and then the men, and finally the host. It is not customary to fill the wine glasses completely, but at most up to halfway; Refills are made before the glass is completely empty.
The glass is only held by the stem, not by the body and not by the foot. Connoisseurs first swirl the wine in the glass, although the label stipulates swiveling counterclockwise for right-handers. Repeated toasting is considered unsuitable, it should only be done once at the beginning, whereby only the same drinks should be used, i.e. not beer with wine; Water, on the other hand, is considered neutral. Otherwise, toasting without glass contact is recommended.
Current alcohol consumption in Europe
overview
According to statistics from the Federation of German Spirits Industry and Importers , Luxembourg was the European leader in alcohol consumption in 2000 with 12.1 liters (pure alcohol, calculated from the consumption of various alcohols), followed by Romania (11.7) and Portugal (10.8) and Ireland (10.7). With 10.5 liters, Germany was sixth behind the Czech Republic . Great Britain ended up in the lower midfield with only 8.4 liters. The bottom of the statistics were Iceland (4.4) and Norway (4.3). A list of countries by alcohol consumption is based on a global status report on alcohol and health published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011.
Consumption in Germany
In Germany, the consumption of pure ethanol in alcoholic beverages was stable from 1970 to 2006 at 10.1 l per capita. This makes Germany one of the five countries in the world with the highest alcohol consumption. The proportion of young alcohol drinkers has risen sharply since 2004. In the group with an age between 12 and 15 or between 16 and 19 years of age, consumption increased from 14.1 to 20.9 g / week and from 65.5 (2001) to 97.5 g / week (2004) . The proportion and the amount consumed are also higher among male alcohol drinkers in every age group than among women.
In the drug and addiction report 2013, published by the Federal Ministry of Health , the consumption of 9.6 liters of pure alcohol per year was stated. These data are based on a survey by the Robert Koch Institute . The different information in the statistics can be explained, among other things, by the different methods of collection and calculation. Manufacturer and dealer information used as a basis for calculation lead to different results than consumer surveys.
coffee
The coffee came in the 17th century to Europe. At first, its consumption was restricted to the nobility because it was very expensive. In the course of the 18th century it also became a popular drink among the bourgeoisie and began to displace wine and beer. If beer soup was previously eaten for breakfast in all shifts , one now ate bread and drank coffee with it. In the 19th century, coffee soup was also widespread among the lower classes . The new hot drink became the typical drink of the Enlightenment ; it was considered a wake-up and disillusionment in contrast to the intoxicating alcohol. It was also thought to have health-promoting properties. However, there were also critical voices. Krünitz quotes an anonymous writer who wrote in 1782: “King Friedrich (of Prussia, add.) Was still brought up with beer soups, but the children of a thousand of his subjects already had coffee. [...] And so this tea and coffee brewing gradually turned into a ruin, which weakened health, spread effeminate languor and feeling, destroyed many households, consumed the marrow of the nation, and dragged twenty-four million guilders annually from Germany. "
The introduction of coffee clearly changed the drinking culture in Central Europe, the alcohol consumption of the upper classes declined significantly. It is interesting that tea apparently did not perform the same function because alcohol consumption did not change in England.
In the 19th century, numerous civil abstinence and temperance associations were set up to combat alcoholism , especially among the lower classes. On her initiative, so-called people's coffee halls were founded in numerous cities where only coffee was served, no alcohol. In 1888 there were such halls in 28 German cities. The success was probably rather modest. The workers set up their own coffee shops, called café poulaire in France , where there was alcohol after all. The poorer population generally did not drink real coffee beans either , but rather substitute coffee made from surrogates , especially chicory .
Coffee houses
At the same time as the first coffee imports, the first coffee houses appeared in Europe in the 17th century ; the first opened in Venice in 1647 . The first German coffee house was founded in Bremen in 1673 . This created a new drinking place in competition with the restaurant , which was reserved exclusively for men until the middle of the 19th century. The coffee houses developed into bourgeois meeting places, because nobles drank their coffee within their own circles, workers could not afford this drink. In contrast to the pub, the coffee house was a place of sobriety, so that it was possible to make business contacts here with a clear head and to exchange information. It was a place of communication . Furthermore, politics was often talked about or even made politics in the cafes; in Paris they became revolutionary meeting places before the French Revolution . The English King Charles II feared the preparation of a revolution as early as 1675 when he ordered the coffeehouses to be closed because he was suspicious of them. The violent reactions caused him to withdraw this order just a few days later. At that time coffee was far more important than tea in England.
The coffee houses became literary meeting places primarily in Vienna , if not exclusively there. However, the cafes were only real cultural sites in a few major European cities. In the middle of the 19th century, the confectionery cafés were built, to which women now had access. The trip there was a Sunday pleasure for the Biedermeier family. Today, cafes have to struggle with the image of being a meeting place for older women in particular, at best it is “in” to have breakfast there. Coffee bars are more in line with the current zeitgeist and the trend towards coffee to go (coffee to take away) can also be interpreted as a sign of a declining coffee culture.
See also Viennese coffee house
Coffee party
Since the coffee house was reserved for men for a long time, women drank the coffee at home and established their own coffee culture. As early as 1715 we can read in the Frauenzimmer-Lexicon : "The Caffé Cräntzgen is a daily or weekly gathering and gathering of a few women, who go around one after the other, drink coffee and enjoy l'ombre games". Nothing is said about the status of women, but it was only about members of the bourgeoisie, because the lower classes did not have the time for this leisure activity, and other rules of invitation applied to the nobility. Here one spoke of coffee companies . Johann Georg Krünitz speaks in the Economic Encyclopedia of afternoon visits or coffee visits . However, the expression “ Kaffeekränzchen” was established as early as the 18th century.
Krünitz emphasizes several times that these afternoon gatherings did not arise until the beginning of the 18th century. Since then, visiting rooms have appeared in town houses for the first time as a counterpart to the noble salon . The fact that there were no “wreaths” before can be attributed not least to the limited choice of drinks: Consuming wine, beer or liqueur in large quantities was considered improper for women, especially in the afternoon; Simply offering guests water or milk would have been impolite, however. It was only with the introduction of coffee that women were able to entertain guests appropriately. This was true of the nobles as well as of the bourgeoisie. Alcohol-free coffee created a new drinking culture that women could now partake in just as much as men - although initially not in public.
As early as the 18th century, however, the coffee party was met with ridicule and criticism. The economist Krünitz strongly criticizes the resulting additional costs, including the furnishing of the corresponding rooms, including furniture and dishes. In addition, the housewife is now often no longer able to supervise the staff in the afternoon, so that negative consequences for the household are to be feared. In addition, the female gatherings, unlike the male ones, were seen as unnecessary. The German dictionary of the Brothers Grimm describes Kaffeeklatsch as “chatter in a coffee party”, and this definition shows a clear contempt. Exchanging news among women is gossip , while exchanging news among men is "news". In addition, men suspected that they were often the subject of these coffee conversations and feared solidarity among women. But, as is well known, coffee parties have not proven to be the nucleus of emancipation .
Coffee dishes
The hot drinks tea and coffee, which were new in Europe, made the introduction of new drinking vessels necessary, because the previously common metal vessels turned out to be unsuitable. On the one hand, they adulterated the taste, on the other hand, the heat conduction could easily burn your mouth and fingers. For this reason, porcelain drinking bowls were imported from China by the noble houses , as they were already in use there. However, since you could burn your fingers on it, bowls with handles were ordered. The result was the cups with handles that are known today , with different shapes for tea and coffee being developed over time. In 1708, Germany's first own manufacturing facility was set up in Meissen , so that the company became independent from China.
As early as the 18th century, saucers were added to the cups, which were not called " saucers " by chance, because at that time it was customary to pour the hot coffee into the saucer in portions and drink it so that it cools down more quickly. At about the same time as the cups, the coffee pots appeared, but initially they were mostly made of metal, silver , pewter and brass , and in the country also made of enamelled sheet metal . These jugs could be kept warm on the stove. The nobility and bourgeoisie soon introduced the porcelain jug that was placed on the coffee table . The problem arose here that the coffee had to be drunk quickly if it did not cool down. They were therefore only used at coffee parties and in larger groups. Heatable metal jugs, some of which were called coffee machines , were developed for everyday use in the 18th century . In northern Germany they were also called crane jugs , as they had no pouring spout, but small taps ( cranes ) above the floor. Burners were used for heating, and from 1930 there were also models that were operated electrically.
The complete coffee service also consisted of a milk jug and sugar bowl , and the coffee spoons or teaspoons were also added. Before the introduction of coffee drinking, small spoons were unnecessary. Working-class and peasant families, on the other hand, did not have any special coffee sets until well into the 20th century. So they didn't drink the coffee, but spooned it off the soup plate with the tablespoon.
Drinking habits
Already in the 18th century different preferences in drinking habits developed in Europe, as Krünitz describes. The English then drank their coffee mainly for breakfast with bread and butter. The Dutch drank strong, sweetened coffee in the mornings and afternoons; the simpler population had to do without sugar and instead sweetened some with liquorice juice . In France, a morning coffee grey with pieces of bread was common. Swedes mostly drank coffee after lunch with milk and sugar. All these variants were supposedly known to the Germans and coffee was drunk at any time of the day.
Both the coffee bans that were partially passed in German provinces in the 18th century and the price of real coffee beans forced the common population to switch to substitute coffee. Most often it was made from chicory, but grain coffee also appeared on the market at the end of the 19th century . Day laborers and poor people also prepared a “coffee” by brewing coffee grounds again, which Krünitz calls the coffee rinsing light . The substitute coffee was usually brewed very thinly and stretched with milk. But even in better circles, coffee was often prepared thinly, not just to save money. Only with "real" coffee the drink had a light brown color when infused thinly, while chicory coffee was always very dark. The flower coffee even became a status symbol .
Until well into the 20th century, farmers and workers did not drink coffee , but instead ate a coffee soup , also called coffee mousse or mashed coffee , made from thin substitute coffee with milk and pieces of bread, sometimes with other ingredients , in the morning and in the evening . This meal was available for both adults and children. Many doctors criticized the "coffee epidemic" in Germany and warned of damage to health; But even the argument that milk was cheaper than coffee substitute did nothing to change the preference for coffee soup. It had taken the place of the beer soup that had previously been used .
The Finns currently drink the most coffee in the world; in 2003 it was the equivalent of over eleven kilograms of green coffee per capita. In second place were Belgium and Luxembourg with around nine kilograms, followed by Norway , Denmark and Sweden . Switzerland , the Netherlands and Germany follow in the middle with a good six kilograms. Austria only comes in eleventh place at 5.6 kilograms.
The comparison with the statistics of alcohol consumption is interesting (see above). There, the Scandinavian countries are all at the bottom. This supports the thesis that coffee partially replaces alcohol consumption.
tea
The importance of tea in Europe is relatively clearly structured regionally. In most of Europe, coffee dominates, while tea is rarely drunk. In large parts of southern Germany, the term “tea” without specifications such as “black tea” is initially understood as fruit tea. Conversely, coffee is only of marginal importance in most “tea regions”. Black tea dominates here . The “tea regions” of Europe include the British Isles , Poland , Russia , Turkey and a few regions in Germany, mainly East Frisia and the Emsland . Only in Turkey and some regions in Germany, mainly in Northern Germany, are coffee and tea equally common. In Germany, tea and coffee are interchangeable; in Turkey they are drunk on different occasions.
The first large shipment of green tea from China came to Europe by Dutch ship in 1610. From 1630 it was also introduced to France and from 1650 to England. At first it was very expensive and was mainly used as a medicinal drink for the sick. Tea became fashionable among the French aristocracy between 1650 and 1700, but in the following period it was replaced by coffee and hot chocolate as fashion drinks. Instead, tea began to rise to become the English national drink at the beginning of the 18th century. While only six tons of tea were imported to England in 1699, 100 years later it was 11,000 tons, mostly black tea .
According to the sources, the Portuguese Katharina von Braganza ensured that tea drinking became fashionable among the English nobility at the English royal court. However, the East India Company , which had the monopoly on Indian tea, which replaced Chinese green tea , was also of great importance . In 1717 Thomas Twining opened the first tea shop in London next to his coffee house; tea was also served there. In 1732 the first "tea garden" was opened in the English capital. It was a park where tea was served outdoors and there were small concerts there. During the 18th century, tea became so cheap that it became a staple drink.
see also article British tea culture , tea house
Drinking chocolate
The hot chocolate was next to coffee and tea, the third hot drink in the modern era was introduced in Europe and led to the development of its own drinking culture with special dishes and utensils. It originally comes from Central America and was first drunk at the Spanish royal court in the 16th century; in the 17th century, chocolate became a fashion drink at the French court in Versailles . Chocolate was initially a purely aristocratic drink and served as a status symbol before it found its way into the upper middle class and eventually became a drink for women and children. In addition to the nobility, the clergy were the population group in the 17th century who got to know and appreciate the new drink; Chocolate became a popular source of energy during Lent , especially in monasteries , because it was not subject to the ecclesiastical food bans. It was not until the invention of soluble cocoa powder in the 19th century that drinking chocolate became a mass product.
See also
literature
- Daniela Ball (Ed.): Coffee in the mirror of European drinking habits. Coffee in the Context of European Drinking Habits. Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-906554-06-6 . German English.
- Rüdiger Fikentscher (ed.): Drinking cultures in Europe . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2008, ISBN 978-3-89812-561-1 .
- Thomas Hengartner, Christoph Maria Merki (ed.): Luxury foods. A cultural story . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-458-34461-6 .
- Gunther Hirschfelder : European food culture. A history of nutrition from the Stone Age to the present day . Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-593-37937-6 .
- Manfred Hübner, Regina Hübner: Drink, little brother, drink. Illustrated cultural and social history of German drinking habits . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-361-00575-2 (former title “Der deutsche Durst”).
- Roderick Phillips: The Great History of Wine . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-593-37390-4 .
- Wolfgang Schivelbusch : Paradise, taste and reason. A history of luxury items . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-24413-7 .
- Hasso Spode : Alcohol and Civilization. Intoxication, disillusionment and table manners in Germany until the beginning of the 20th century . Tara-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-929127-13-X .
- Hasso Spode: The power of drunkenness. Social and cultural history of alcohol in Germany . Budrich Verlag, Opladen 1996, ISBN 3-8100-1709-4 .
- Hasso Spode: Drinking Cultures in Europe . Structures, transfers, interdependencies. In: Johannes and Christiane Wienand (ed.): The cultural integration of Europe . 1st edition. VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-16375-8 , p. 361-392 .
- Ulrich Wyrwa : Brandy and ›real‹ beer. The drinking culture of the Hamburg workers in the 19th century (= social history library. 7). Junius Verlag, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-88506-507-X .
- Gunther Hirschfelder , Manuel Trummer : Beer. A story from the Stone Age to today. Theiss Verlag-WBG, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-8062-3270-7 .
Web links
- The cultural drug alcohol - this eternal binge , article by Joachim Käppner in the Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 31, 2011
- Historical overview of drinking habits
- Social Issues Research Center: Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking
- David Teller: Cultural History of Alcohol ( Memento from July 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Binge drinking in Ireland
Individual evidence
- ^ Harry G. Levine: Temperance Cultures: Alcohol as a Problem in Nordic and English-Speaking Cultures. ( Memento of December 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 354 kB), In: Malcom Lader et al. (Ed.): The Nature of Alcohol and Drug-Related Problems. New York 1993, pp. 16-36.
- ↑ Wolf Wagner: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Cultures of alcohol. )
- ^ A b c Social Issues Research Center, Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking
- ^ Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking
- ^ A b c Social Issues Research Center, Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking
- ↑ https://www.wissenschaft.de/geschichte-archaeologie/prost-in-der-steinzeit/
- ↑ a b c d David Teller: Cultural history of alcohol
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l drinking. In: Economic Encyclopedia von Krünitz.
- ↑ a b c d Information on historical drinking habits
- ↑ Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: The German thirst. 2004, p. 20.
- ↑ Monday. In: Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm: German Dictionary. Volume 12, Hirzel Verlag, Leipzig 1886–1895, Sp. 2524f.
- ↑ blue. In: Friedrich Kluge, Elmar Sebold (arrangement): Etymological dictionary of the German language. 23rd, adult Edition. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1995, p. 116.
- ↑ Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: The German thirst. 2004, p. 90.
- ↑ Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: The German thirst. 2004, p. 59.
- ^ Heinrich Tappe: Alcohol Consumption in Germany. Development, influencing factors and control mechanisms of drinking behavior in the 19th and 20th centuries. In: food culture. Eating and drinking in transition. Issue 4/2002, p. 213 ff.
- ↑ Ulrich Wyrwa: Brandy and real beer. The drinking culture of the Hamburg workers in the 19th century. Hamburg 1990, p. 33.
- ↑ Ulrich Wyrwa: Brandy and real beer. 1990, p. 41 f.
- ↑ Ulrich Wyrwa: Brandy and real beer. 1990, p. 55.
- ↑ Roderick Phillips: The Great History of Wine. 2003, p. 178.
- ↑ Quotation from: Wolfgang Schivelbusch: Paradise, Taste and Reason. 1992, p. 183.
- ↑ Wolfgang Schivelbusch: Paradise, Taste and Reason. 1992, p. 200.
- ↑ Wolfgang Schivelbusch: Paradise, Taste and Reason. 1992, p. 201.
- ↑ Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: The German thirst. 2004, p. 61 ff.
- ↑ Wolfgang Schivelbusch: Paradise, Taste and Reason. 1992, p. 206 f.
- ↑ Quotation from: Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: Der deutsche Durst. 2004, p. 184.
- ↑ Wolfgang Schivelbusch: Paradise, Taste and Reason. 1992, p. 214.
- ↑ Manfred Huebner, Regina Huebner: The German thirst. 2004, p. 189 ff.
- ↑ Frank Kämmer: Small oenology. 100 recommendations for connoisseurs. Augsburg 1997, p. 60 ff.
- ↑ Hans-Jürgen Teuteberg (ed.): The revolution at the dining table. 2004.
- ↑ Alcohol consumption in Germany and preventive strategies - an overview. ( Memento of July 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 111 kB)
- ↑ Drugs and Addiction Report of the Federal Report 2013 ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
- ↑ Data and facts: results of the study “Gesundheit in Deutschland aktuell 2010”.
- ^ Johann-Jacobs-Museum: Kaffeekränzchen ( Memento from June 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Caffe. In: Economic Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Source for this chapter: Heinz-Peter Mielke: Coffee, Tea, Cocoa. Viersen 1988.
- ↑ Caffe. In: Economic Encyclopedia of Krünitz.
- ↑ German Coffee Association
- ↑ a b Tom Standage: Six drinks that moved the world. 2006, p. 169 ff.
- ↑ Karin Becker: The gourmand, the bourgeois and the novelist. Frankfurt am Main 2000, p. 137 f.