Dear David,
Your student who can read some German (a growing rarity in these 
days, alas) should take a look at whichever of Hasso Spode's books 
you have in your library.    He should also go and talk to your 
colleague, Erik Jensen, in that fine department of yours.  Erik is an 
excellent cultural historian of Germany.

The diversity of drinking preferences in Germany has a lot to do with 
production, of course.  Wine is more prevalent in the south, because 
that's where the vineyards are.   Prussia leant more toward spirits, 
because that's where the big distilleries were.   The main event that 
changed tastes was not the temperance movement, but the spread of 
refrigerated boxcars on the railroads in the 1890s.  This meant that 
those really tasty Bavarian beers, which quickly went sour in the 
heat of the summer,  could now be enjoyed year round even in the 
north.  So there was no need to fall back on stronger 
spirits.   Socio-economic factors play a larger role than regional 
ones in preferences for wine, and this remained a largely 
middle-class drink for much of the country, being more expensive than 
beer or spirits.

Best,
Geoffrey



>------------------------------
>
>Date:    Thu, 3 Nov 2005 12:18:23 -0500
>From:    David Fahey <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: diversity of German drinking preferences
>
>An undergraduate student of mine is writing a paper on the diversity
>of German drinking preferences (beer, wine, spirits) with emphasis on
>its cultural basis.  He reads Germany at the newspaper level.  Any 
>suggestions?

Professor Geoffrey J. Giles
Department of History
University of Florida

Mailing address:
PO Box 117320
Gainesville FL 32611-7320

Office phone: 352-392-0271 Ext. 245
Home phone: 352-375-3587
Fax: 352-379-0935
Homepage: www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ggiles