European Studies talk by Professor Robert S. Terrell, Department of History, Syracuse University

Co-sponsored by the Department of History

How does a relatively unknown and provincial production standard—the Beer Purity Law—become a hallmark of national consumer culture? Why would an unassuming commodity—beer—enjoy unique and unprecedented privileges of taxation? This talk uses Bavarian beer to explore the provincial dynamics of Germany in the 20th century. In the case of both taxation and consumer sensibilities, Bavarian industrial and cultural interests transformed the structures and discourses of the nation. At stake in this history is a reconsideration of local and provincial influences not only on Germany but also in other European nations in the modern era.

Robert Terrell is assistant professor of history at Syracuse University where he teaches and researches modern Germany and Europe with a focus on commodities, consumption and food. His first book, A Nation Fermented: Beer, Bavaria, and the Making of Modern Germany, appeared with Oxford University Press in 2024, and he is currently working to locate German modernization at the turn of the 20th century in the semi-public spaces of Munich’s bars and restaurants.