Germany’s Beer Culture & History Plus a Schnitzel Recipe

Beer is an integral part Germany’s culture and history.

It is estimated that Germans drink an average of over 100 liters per person yearly, much of it consumed at annual Oktoberfest celebrations each fall, including Munich and Stuttgart, where the two largest Oktoberfests are held.

Oktoberfest in Munich (my mother’s hometown) is the largest and most famous annual festival in Germany, and maybe the world – with the exception of New Year’s Eve in Times Square (NYC is my hometown).

Germany’s second largest Oktoberfest is in Stuttgart, called Canstatter Volkfest, and there are dozens of other celebrations in towns and villages throughout Germany.

See Also

My article Bavaria Beckons in Fall/Winter

in JaxFax Travel Magazine

Despite the availability of excellent local wines and fruit-based brandy (schnaps), beer remains the most popular beverage.

Here are some fun facts about Germany’s beer culture and history plus a recipe for a favorite main dish to pair with a helles or dunkel – light or dark – beer.

Frederick the Great Ordered His Subjects To Drink Beer

Many governments around the world strive to curb excessive consumption of alcohol by levying heavy taxes on beer, wine and liquor and regulating drinking hours. The opposite was true for King Frederick the Great, who ruled of the kingdom of Prussia from 1740 to 1786.

He wanted his subjects to drink more beer than coffee, even once pointing out how disgusted he was to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee being consumed by his people instead of beer.

To him, beer was not just a recreational beverage, but a drink on which he and his ancestors were brought up. Subsequently, the revered military campaigner banned coffee, replacing it with “beer soup”.

So the history of beer includes this question  –

Why would the king want his subjects to be drinkers of beer, taking into account how liquor makes people drunk, silly, and less productive? He had some sensible reasons:

Besides his people’s heritage, King Frederick also wanted to safeguard his kingdom’s economy by lowering the importation of coffee, which had increased over the years.  And, he wanted to increase consumption of local agricultural crops – including those needed to make beer.

Following his order, beer consumption went up, contributing to the popularity of beer in Prussia and in the rest of Germany, which continues to this day.

German Beer Purity Laws Date From 1516

It is the oldest regulation related to food and drink in the world, adopted in 1516, when Germany was still part of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Roman-appointed kings and emperors.

To achieve a consistent level of quality in beer brewing, the German Beer Purity Law dictates that the ingredients for beer can contain only four things – water, barley, malt and hops.

The important role that yeast plays in brewing was only recognized in the 19th century.

The 1516 Bavarian law set the price of beer (depending on the time of year and type of beer), limited the profits made by innkeepers, and made confiscation the penalty for making impure beer.

The 1516 Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot in German) actually updated a rule first adopted in the duchy of Munich in 1487.

After Bavaria was reunited, the Munich law was adopted across Bavaria, and – eventually – the entire country of Germany.

Although there are a few craft breweries today using other ingredients, including spices and fruits, the overwhelming majority of Germany’s thousands of local breweries still abide by the 1516 purity laws.

Recipe for Schnitzel, Traditional German Dish to Accompany Beer

A traditional German dish is schnitzel, or cutlet, which can be either a thin slice of veal or pork, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. When it is veal, it is called a Wienerschnitzel.

Schnitzel can be served for lunch or for dinner, either with roasted potatoes, spaetzle (small dumplings) or rotkraut (red cabbage).  And – of course – beer, to wash it down.

Here’s an easy recipe for schnitzel that serves two.

What You Will Need for Schnitzel

• An oven
• Two bowls – one large, one small
• A baking sheet
• One plate for food preparation and four for serving
• A rolling pin
• A frying pan
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil, lard or rendered chicken fat
• Four veal or pork loin steaks, thinly sliced
• 100 g. breadcrumbs
• 2 lemons

Prepare the breadcrumb mixture

• Zest the lemons and pop them into the large bowl.
• Toss in the dried oregano, bread crumbs, and olive oil, plus salt and pepper to taste.
• Transfer the mixture to a plate.

Prepare and cook the veal or pork

• Bash each veal or pork steak with the rolling pin until fairly flat (1 cm thick, preferably).
• Smear both sides with a little olive oil to cover it, to ensure that the breadcrumb mixture adheres. (Purists might want to use lard or rendered chicken fat)
• Place each steak onto the crumbs and flip over so both sides are coated with bread crumbs.
• Heat oil in the frying pan on medium-high heat,
•  Carefully lay in the schnitzels and fry for about 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through, turning them halfway.

Directions for Roasted Potatoes

• Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
• Prepare and cook the potatoes.
• Chop the potatoes into bite-size chunks and transfer them to the baking tray.
• Drizzle the potatoes with oil.
• Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.
• Toss the potatoes to coat.
• Spread out and roast the potatoes on the middle shelf of the oven for about 35 mins or until golden and crispy, turning them halfway.

Directions for Spaetzle

Mahlzeit!

Germany’s Beer Culture Link To Namibia

Namibia is on the southwestern coast of Africa some 7400 miles from Germany, linked to German history and culture for more than 200 years.

Namibia History, Briefly

Namibia was one of Europe’s colonial conquests in the 1800s, then called German West Africa.

In 1920, Germany surrendered it as part of the peace agreement following World War I, allowing the territory to be administered by the League of Nations. Namibia gained independence 70 years later.

The National Museum of Namibia, in capital city Windhoek, is a must for visitors, for more than 3,000 years of history, including the Colonial period and since.

German Beer in Namibia

Namibia Breweries was founded in 1920 by Carl List and Hermann Ohlthaver  and has grown to become a premium beer brand with strong footprints in Germany.  Its beers are relatively popular in the Western country, lending directly to the German’s beer culture.

You can find German-style beer everywhere in Namibia, from the capital of Windhoek to the guesthouses and hotels serving visitors to Namibia’s national parks, such as the amazing Etosha National Park, and wildlife viewing.  Also schnitzel.

In addition to wildlife viewing, Namibia is famous for its giant sand dunes, the largest in the world, some of which are open to climbing.

That’s a photo of me, ecoxplorer Evelyn Kanter, about to climb one more than 300 feet high in Sousevlei.

Guaranteed that I needed a good, cold German beer afterward.

Make mine a hefeweizen!

This was published originally in 2019 and has been updated for 2023.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA), a former Board Member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and a current member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA).

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter