A Nation Fermented
Beer, Bavaria, and the Making of Modern GermanyHow did beer become one of the central commodities associated with the German nation’ How did a little-known provincial production standard ‘ the Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law ‘ 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.ISBN: 9780198881834, 0198881835
