Germany’s Drink Bill
June 16, 1906
Summary
The amount of alcohol consumed in the United States and Germany is compared to demonstrate how much more people drink in the United States.
Transcription
Germany’s Drink Bill
Some Figures Which Tell a Startling
Story of the Kaiser’s
Kingdom.
Germany has about 60,000,000 of people. The American consul's report that the annual drink bill of that empire is $672,588,000. This is an average of about $11.21 per person, or of $37.36 per person over 15 years of age. For schools this great empire spent $99,722,000, for working people’s insurance $104,244,000. The drink bill shows an average consumption annually of 6.5 quarts of wine, 129.5 quarts of beer and 9 quarts of brandy for each person. The German consul in Chicago tried to mollify the apparent force of these figures, by stating that the expenditure of $37.36 for each person over 15 years of age does not mean in Germany what it does here, since the beer brewed there is not as intoxicating as that which is drunk here. But 9 quarts of brandy for each person is pretty heavy drinking of spirits, and nothing can offset that. While the total expenditure for drunk in this country is much greater than in Germany, being about a billion and a half, the average expense per capita is about $18.30. In Great Britain it is about $19.- Cumberland Presbyterian.
Some Figures Which Tell a Startling
Story of the Kaiser’s
Kingdom.
Germany has about 60,000,000 of people. The American consul's report that the annual drink bill of that empire is $672,588,000. This is an average of about $11.21 per person, or of $37.36 per person over 15 years of age. For schools this great empire spent $99,722,000, for working people’s insurance $104,244,000. The drink bill shows an average consumption annually of 6.5 quarts of wine, 129.5 quarts of beer and 9 quarts of brandy for each person. The German consul in Chicago tried to mollify the apparent force of these figures, by stating that the expenditure of $37.36 for each person over 15 years of age does not mean in Germany what it does here, since the beer brewed there is not as intoxicating as that which is drunk here. But 9 quarts of brandy for each person is pretty heavy drinking of spirits, and nothing can offset that. While the total expenditure for drunk in this country is much greater than in Germany, being about a billion and a half, the average expense per capita is about $18.30. In Great Britain it is about $19.- Cumberland Presbyterian.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Emma Roberts
Citation
“Germany’s Drink Bill,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed December 7, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/440.