There is no doubt that the pub is widely regarded as a place of relaxation, socialising and entertainment that is appreciated by many globally in its various different forms and by people of many different ages from students to seniors, and anyone in between. What is less well known, however, is its major political importance and position as the site of revolution, debate and emancipation of the working classes in which it was influential in the German labour movement in the 19th century.
At this time, the country was undergoing rapid industrialisation like much of Europe and more efficient work and production by the proletarians employed in the factories was needed. This was responded to through the capitalist factory owners attempting to improve this by dulling workers' senses and making them lose track of time and their feelings of exploitation by serving them alcohol in the form of schnapps during their workdays. This use of alcohol was strongly condemned and disapproved of by socialists who developed the plan to use public bars as a place for workers to drink instead of on the factory floors, and encourage beer (with its lower alcohol content and therefore reduced impact on the workers' minds and ability to work) to be consumed instead of schnapps (this being very much associated with capitalism and considered by prominent German socialist Karl Kautsky as "the enemy"). Workers also began to decline the schnapps offered to them preferring to go to the bars after work to drink beer as opposed to drinking alcohol during their working days. Equally, these bars, although admittedly primarily frequented by working class male proletarians, also had a role in providing refuge for working women who were working in the factories to relieve their stress using alcohol. This then led to them, like the male proletariat workers, seeing this as an opportunity to escape the constraints of societal norms and protest against these forming their own political discourse and assisting the female suffrage movement. Many suffrage meetings were held in these bars. This became a global phenomenon with suffragette meetings and riot points for feminist demonstrations famously being evident in bars in the UK. Moreover, considering the overcrowded and often inadequate living conditions of these workers being unpleasant to live in as well as providing limited space for socialising and entertainment, the bars became popular with them for these reasons.
H.R Giger's 1993 artwork depicting the Bierkrieg in 19th century Germany.
This also led to the proletarian workers and political activists that frequented these bars using them as a site of planning future activism and debating political issues. Community organisations and local political groups also held their meetings. This led to much hatred of the bars by the governments of this time and there was much consideration of having the meetings that took place within them restricted or even banned, as they were considered to be a significant threat to society. Anger from the capitalists of the time in regard to their concern that the bar owners and brewers were developing socialist values and rejecting the governments taxes and regulations on their businesses leading to the Bierkrieg or "beer wars". Yet this didn't deter the socialists and only further encouraged them to continue meeting in this way, albeit more discreetly.
In the present times, beer and bars continue to very much remain associated with social progress and political discussion with brewers (particularly craft beer brewers) creating names, marketing campaigns and labels for their beers to reflect current society using these to attract a politically minded audience and raise awareness of the need for social change. These include several US brewers' anti-trump beers with names such as "Class War", "March On" and "Makin' Noise, A Pussy Riot Beer".
For this, readers, I will present you with the key takeaway from this post: go to the pub and have a pint. It's your socialist duty.
Hoffrogge, R (2018). Booze and Socialism. Published in Jacobin (30/8/2018). Translated by Loren Balhorn. https://jacobin.com/2018/08/schnapps-working-class-alcohol-drinking-bars
Clark, M (2024). Exploring the Unexpected Intersections of Beer and Political Movements. Published in The Up and Under Pub (11/7/2022) https://theupandunderpub.com/exploring-the-unexpected-intersections-of-beer-and-political-movements/
Herzog, K (2017). The Stories Behind Five Anti-Trump Beers. Published in Punch (3/4/2017) https://punchdrink.com/articles/stories-behind-anti-trump-beers-political-beer-5-rabbits/
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