A Nation Fermented: Beer, Bavaria, and the Making of Modern Germany

by Robert Shea Terrell

How did beer become one of the central commodities associated with the German nation? How did a little-known provincial production standard DS the Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law DS become a pillar of national consumer sentiments? How did the jovial, beer-drinking German become a fixture in the global imagination?

While the connection between beer and Germany seems self-evident, A Nation Fermented reveals how it was produced through a strange brew of regional commercial and political pressures. Spanning from the late nineteenth century to the last decades of the twentieth, A Nation Fermented argues that the economic, regulatory, and cultural weight of Bavaria shaped the German nation in profound ways. Drawing on sources from over a dozen archives and repositories, Terrell weaves together subjects ranging from tax law to advertising, public health to European integration, and agriculture to global stereotypes.

Offering a history of the Germany that Bavaria made over the twentieth century, A Nation Fermented both eschews sharp temporal divisions and forgoes conventional narratives centered on Prussia, Berlin, or the Rhineland. In so doing, Terrell offers a fresh take on the importance of provincial influences and the role of commodities and commerce in shaping the nation.

Genres: History

240 pages, Hardcover

Published March 21, 2024

Reviews

[Reading Rambo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and in-depth historical, sociopolitical, and cultural analysis of beer in Germany. Specifically how Bavaria shaped much of what the world knows (or thinks they know) about one of the most iconic symbols of Germany.

[Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

''To the right of us is only the wall'' - Franz Josef Strauss