Winterhuder Bier | 1911
Did you know that this ad would be illegal in Germany today because of a single word?
The Winterhuder Bierbrauerei operated from 1881 to 1974 in Winterhude, a district in the north of Hamburg on the banks of the Alster. It was one of many breweries in a city that had lived partly on the beer trade since the Middle Ages.
In this ad, published in 1911 in Die Hamburger Woche, an illustrated weekly from Hamburg, we can see the beer's name running diagonally across the page, followed by a promise: "ist anerkannt vorzüglich und bekömmlich!" ("is acknowledged to be excellent and easy on the stomach!").
The word bekömmlich suggests a drink that is good for the body. In 2018, more than a century later, Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled that no beer may be advertised that way: under European Union rules, drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol cannot make health claims. The case involved a small brewery in the Allgäu that had used the word since the early 20th century.
The Winterhuder brewery ceased to exist in 1974. Its ad remains a testimony to a time when a beer could present itself as good for your health.
Text in the ad
Winterhuder Bierbrauerei · Hamburg
Winterhuder Bier
ist anerkannt vorzüglich und bekömmlich!
Translation:
Winterhuder Brewery · Hamburg
Winterhuder beer
is acknowledged to be excellent and easy on the stomach!
- Brand
- Winterhuder Bier
- Year
- 1911
- Decade
- 1910s
- Country
- Germany
- Medium
- Magazine
- Themes
- Drinks
- Original publication
- Die Hamburger Woche, 1911
