On this day in 1990, the communist half of Germany, which was called the Democratic Republic of Germany as some sort of inside joke, was abolished and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. I spent some time in the western portion before and after reunification, and let me tell you, Germany’s drinking culture was vastly different from America’s. For one thing, they let teenagers drink, some high schools even gave out beer tokens to graduates, while we Yank teens had to skulk aroun d like poorly-trained spies pulling off a long series of capers. Every town in Germany, large and small would have a number of huge beer-fueled fests every year and I never saw a single scuffle or fight, which I thought quite strange. Every town also seemed to have its own brewery, and the beer was always excellent. I also learned you should never order a cocktail at the German equivalent of a bar. Cocktails seemed to confound them. It was like asking a dog to catch a mouse. He might pull it off, but it wasn’t going to be pretty. This has allegedly changed in recent years. Regardless, let’s raise a drink to a reunited Germany and say, “Euch ist bekannt was wir bedürfen, wir wollen starke Getränke schlürfen!“ Which means, “You know what we need to do is to throw back strong drinks!”
