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Do you know what I feel like today? A big slab of numbers. One that, if it were made out of concrete, could easil blugeon you into unconsciousnes.

The numbers cover part of the Gründerzeit, the dynamic period of German industrial growth after unification in 1871. The brewing industry was a willing participant in Germany's first economic miracle and as the table shows, there was an uniterrupted growth in beer production. Over the period covered production rose by 79%. Pretty impressive.

The Brausteuergebiet was basically North Germany. Everything but the Southern states of Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg plus Alsace-Lorraine.

There are some surprises in there. Principally that exports declined and imports increased. By 1900 they were almost equal. I've thought good and hard about this. Where was that beer coming from? My guess is Austria. More specifically, from Bohemia, in the form if Pilsner. It certsainly wasn't French or Belgian beer.

Consumption per head at around 100 litres is remarkably similar to today. In 2006, per capita consumption was 116 litres*.

So I could see the trends more easily I've also created a tble showing the production of the different regions in percentage terms. You can seee that the trend was fro a greater proportion to be be brewed in the Brausteuergebiet and less everywhere else, apart from Baden.


German Beer Production in %
1881/1882 1885/86 1890/91 1891/92 1892/93 1893/94 1894/95 1895/96 1896/97 1897/98 1898/99 1899/1900
Brausteuergebiet 52.49% 55.51% 58.84% 59.07% 58.28% 59.57% 59.10% 59.93% 60.00% 60.19% 59.95% 59.92%
Bayern 32.26% 31.78% 28.90% 28.83% 29.16% 28.60% 29.03% 27.98% 27.86% 27.11% 27.20% 27.03%
Baden 3.15% 3.12% 3.36% 3.27% 3.31% 3.26% 3.30% 3.34% 3.77% 4.38% 4.59% 4.72%
Württemberg 9.26% 7.23% 7.03% 6.87% 7.24% 6.62% 6.68% 6.78% 6.53% 6.54% 6.34% 6.29%
Alsace-Lorraine 2.54% 1.74% 1.68% 1.74% 1.76% 1.73% 1.66% 1.74% 1.61% 1.54% 1.65% 1.72%
Source:
Jahrbuch der Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin, 1911, p.585-589

German Beer Production, Beer Imports, Beer Exports and Beer Consumption (hl)
1881/1882 1885/86 1890/91 1891/92 1892/93 1893/94 1894/95 1895/96 1896/97 1897/98 1898/99 1899/1900
Deutsches Zollgebiet 36,663,000 39,822,000 49,925,000 50,268,000 51,795,000 52,528,000 52,311,000 57,299,000 58,169,000 62,649,000 64,164,000 65,621,000
Brausteuergebiet 19,244,000 22,105,000 29,374,000 29,695,000 30,186,000 31,290,000 30,916,000 34,337,000 34,904,000 37,707,000 38,465,000 39,320,000
Bayern 11,826,000 12,655,000 14,427,000 14,490,000 15,104,000 15,025,000 15,186,000 16,034,000 16,206,000 16,982,000 17,455,000 17,739,000
Baden 1,155,000 1,244,000 1,679,000 1,643,000 1,714,000 1,710,000 1,728,000 1,914,000 2,192,000 2,741,000 2,947,000 3,095,000
Württemberg 3,396,000 2,879,000 3,508,000 3,454,000 3,749,000 3,478,000 3,493,000 3,885,000 3,796,000 4,100,000 4,069,000 4,128,000
Alsace-Lorraine 932,000 691,000 837,000 875,000 912,000 907,000 869,000 997,000 937,000 964,000 1,058,000 1,128,000
Exports 890,000 1,249,000 626,000 612,000 577,000 590,000 576,000 647,000 664,000 648,000 625,000 682,000
Imports 101,000 111,000 229,000 283,000 353,000 428,000 465,000 547,000 561,000 576,000 568,000 631,000
Consumption 35,874,000 38,684,000 49,528,000 49,939,000 51,571,000 52,366,000 52,200,000 57,199,000 58,066,000 62,577,000 64,107,000 65,569,000
Consumption per head 99.9 97.7 101.9 102.5 100.9 109.2 109.2 116.1 117.1 117.9
Source:
Jahrbuch der Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin, 1911, p.585-589

* Deutscher Brauer Bund.

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