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? Dr. Robert S. Terrell, assistant professor of history at Syracuse University, will deliver this talk that uses Bavarian beer to explore the provincial dynamics of Germany in the twentieth 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.