The first cliche that comes to mind when many think of Germany is thigh-slapping oompah music, embroidered lederhosen and, above all, litre-sized mugs of beer. And Deutschland’s beer culture is best epitomised by Munich’s Oktoberfest. Millions of revellers descend on the Bavarian capital each September for 16 days of booze, bretzel and bratwurst. But it’s a cliche out of sync with modern Germany, where abstinence is on the up – and boozing is in decline.
One example is Die Null (The Zero). Before the world-famous beer festival kicks off this year on 21 September, a new alcohol-free beer garden has opened in the heart of the city, inaugurated by the mayor of Munich himself. The venue serves a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, from mocktails to alcohol-free lager.
It’s the latest in a string of sober ventures across the country, reflecting a wider trend in German society: beer consumption has been steadily declining since the 1990s, standing now at an average of just 88 litres per capita a year, compared with almost 143 litres after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The decline is also noticeable at Oktoberfest itself: in 2019, 6.3 million visitors drank some 7.3m litres. Last year, a record-breaking 7.2 million people attended, but consumed a comparatively meagre 6.5m litres.
In a sign of the changing times, Augustiner – Munich’s oldest brewery, which is both a partner of Die Null and a mainstay of Oktoberfest – launched an alcohol-free helles for the first time in its long history.
But alcohol-free beer is by no means a new development in Germany. While international craft breweries were dreaming up hoppy, hangover-free concoctions, sometimes with patronising names (BrewDog’s are called Nanny State or Punk AF), the Germans were marketing alcohol-free beers as vitamin-containing, isotonic drinks to be enjoyed after sports – even if the idea of gym buffs swigging an Erdinger Alkoholfrei after a workout seems strange to people in the UK.
According to the German federal statistical office, production of non-alcoholic beer (classified as containing less than 0.5% alcohol) increased by 74% between 2011 and 2021 and it is now drunk by some 46% of Germans. But this trend is also largely generational. The German Gen Z is less interested in alcohol than its parents: just 24% regularly drink beer, compared with 33% among Millennials or 35% among generation X. There is a similar drop-off with wine.
This phenomenon is by no means confined to the beer tents of Oktoberfest, but also extends to Berlin’s notoriously hedonistic techno scene. Some clubs have even said that declining alcohol consumption is affecting their bottom line. Meanwhile, the queer club Schwuz now hosts a regular “sober party”. And the longstanding techno festival Nation of Gondwana has a “sober bar” (even if harder substances are still very much a staple of dancefloor marathons).
There are many reasons for this shift. Younger people are more aware and critical of alcoholism, functional or otherwise, having seen the damage that addiction has inflicted on generations before them. Many have a stronger focus on health and sport, being all too conscious of the negative effects and high calorie count of alcoholic drinks. The Covid pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated this trend. Moreover, the cost of living crisis, twinned with the economic fallout of the pandemic, has led many young people to tighten their purse strings on a night out.
But above all, in many younger social circles, it’s just not cool to be drunk any more. Lairy behaviour is a faux pas, even at an otherwise uninhibited techno temple such as Berghain (perhaps Berlin’s most celebrated but also exclusive club). And with a far more exciting selection of non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy than just Sprite or Coke (think rhubarb spritzer or iced mate tea), it’s never been easier to reduce alcohol consumption – or abstain completely.
Germany is not alone. In fact, the number of Americans who smoke cannabis on a daily or near-daily basis now exceeds that of daily drinkers, according to research published in the journal Addiction this year. As Germany partially decriminalised cannabis in April, a similar trend might follow.
Munich’s alcohol-free experiment Die Null is set to close on the eve of this year’s Oktoberfest. But a continued decline in excessive drinking would be a welcome respite from its usual booze-fuelled violence.
Last year, an organisation aiming to protect women and girls at the festival reported daily incidents of sexual assault. On the last day, a group of men armed with beer mugs attacked security guards after one was ejected from a tent. In another incident, a man gave the Hitler salute and then punched a guest at a neighbouring table in the face – just one of many cases of drunken attenders using Nazi symbols last year.
This, sadly, is also “German beer culture”. And as the thirst for beer wanes, it’s high time to call last orders on the loutish, sexist and racist behaviour that has long accompanied it.
Nicholas Potter is a Berlin-based journalist and editor at the German newspaper taz. He is co-editor of the German-language book Judenhass Underground
