A tankard of beer thunks onto the timber table next to a plate of steaming, juicy bratwurst, savory sauerkraut, and buttery potatoes while men and women decked out in brightly colored lederhosen and dirndl dance about the festhalle. Now, indentify the country this scene originates from. However, this does not describe Germany, but Bavaria. In fact, the majority of German stereotypes are Bavarian in nature. Even so, how did Bavaria become synonymous with Germany’s cultural and food identity? Simply put, the culture and customs of Bavaria are so rich and pervasive that it has come to represent Germany as a nation.

Bavaria’s size and location contributes greatly to its domination of German culture. Once considered as the heart and center of Europe, Bavaria covers one fifth of the land area of Germany with a population of approximately twelve to thirteen million, making it the country’s largest and second-most populous region. As such, tourists likely find themselves meeting people who originate from this region or visiting the area itself. Furthermore, Bavarian cities such as Munich and Füssen possess their own attractions. The annual Oktoberfest, held in Munich, attracts over seven million people to Bavaria each year (https://www.oktoberfest.net/oktoberfest-statistics/). Schloss Neuschwanstein, in Füssen, provided the basis for the castle in Walt Disney’s Cinderella (“Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties”). Alone, the regal building attracts around one and a half million tourists (“Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties”). These attractions increase the global population’s exposure to Germany as whole, but Bavaria specifically.

An important factor in Bavaria’s hegemony of German culture is how unique it is. Even with a large land area and population and a thriving tourist market, the region would not be as prevalent if it did not stand out in the mind of tourists. Not only does Bavaria possess the Bavarian Alps, but the region also borders the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe, the Alps. Bavarian buildings have come to possess a particular kind of look, named ‘alpine’ specifically due to the frequency these buildings are seen in the alpine area. As tourism and exposure to this distinct style continued, more and more people believed it to be a cultural, country-wide phenomenon as opposed to a regional one. Even now, towns within the United States that are termed “German” emulate the style of the Bavarian Alpine region (“German Americans”). Furthermore, the dirndl and the lederhosen, considered to be traditional German clothing, are actually Bavarian (Heinzelmann Beyond Bratwurst). The tracht delineates family, trade and location, and they are only worn at particular events (Norah “Oh Bavaria.”). The clothing represents a person individually, which is why it is so strange that it has come to embody a culture instead. Even so, because it and the alpine style of buildings are so unique, they stand out in the minds of tourists, making it what they remember of their visit to Germany, even if they really only visited one area of a rather large country.

Bavarian food, just like its buildings and traditional dress, possessed its own customs and distinct flavors that make it stand out in the minds of tourists. Bavaria, much like the rest of Germany, is an agricultural region, but its many mountains often posed some issues to its residents. As populations increased throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, potatoes became a widely used food to replace bread (Heinzelmann Beyond Bratwurst). Wheat did not grow as easily in the mountains, but potatoes did not suffer from the same difficulties. As such, mountainous areas like Bavaria produced many potatoes, leading to many potato dishes and many assumptions that potatoes were a very German food.

However, Bavaria also possesses some incredibly unique foods that have become equally popular over the years. Lebkuchen, or gingerbread, originated in the Franconian region of Bavaria and is, to this day, still handmade in certain towns, with recipes passed down from one generation to the next (“Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties”). Its success in the global market has only increased the attention to Bavaria. Similarly, the Bavarian pretzel’s and the Munich pretzel’s differences to the original, traditional sweet pretzel brought Bavaria solidly onto the map as far as foods that travel well from country to country go (“Pretzels”). Weisswurst likely stands out to tourists due to the culinary habits that accompany this particular sausage. For example, tradition and culture dictate that weisswurst is eaten only by hand, never with a fork and knife, and with no other sides except a roll and sweet mustard (“Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties”). Global food markets revel in the new and unusual, and these cuisines match that description perfectly. Furthermore, beer gardens are a large part of Munich and Bavarian social life (Heinzelmann Beyond Bratwurst). In fact, Bavaria has the highest density of breweries in Europe and owns almost half of the ones in Germany (“Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties). No wonder that people believe Germans only drink beer, particularly if the most exposure to the country is reduced to one region.

Immigration and the settlement of German immigrants, particularly in places such as the United States, greatly affect how Bavarian culture and cuisine permeates German stereotypes. While tourism plays a large part in shaping ideas of Germany based on Bavaria, a few days or weeks within a region do not create enough of an impact to sustain the hegemony Bavaria possesses. Approximately forty-nine million people within the U.S. claim part or full German heritage; that is almost fifteen percent of the American population (Engel and Lubin). Immigration to the United States, while first starting in the late seventeenth century, began in earnest during the mid-to-late nineteenth century following a period of crop failure. As mentioned previously, Bavaria relied on potatoes to feed its population when wheat failed to do well in the mountainous region. As such, when they began suffering from the potato famine alongside the Irish, many Bavarians immigrated to the United States (Heinzelmann Beyond Bratwurst). Of the nearly million immigrants that entered the country, a larger majority of them were from Bavaria, Baden, or Württemburg (“German Immigration”). As such, many of the traditions and cuisines immigrated with them, as is true for many other cultures. Even so, Bavaria sets itself apart due to its strong sense of identity. Historically, Germany has not been a country for long, only unifying relatively recently. Before that, Bavaria was a separate kingdom, and it maintains its own sense of national identity even now. As such, it is necessary to make a distinction between regions when discussing German immigrants because they likely did not call themselves Germans, but instead Bavarians or Hessians or Thuringians. This accounts for how Bavaria can maintain such a strong presence in a country’s cultural identity.

Bavaria as a region maintains a strong sense of national identity that is separate from the rest of Germany due to its history as a separate and thriving kingdom even today. Because of its magnitude in land area and population, this identity permeates into the rest of Germany and the world as Bavarians travel. It is further strengthened by the thriving tourist industry within the region, and, because of its rich culture, people believe that it represents all of Germany. Distinct ways of traditional dress and a unique style of architecture stand out in the minds of all who visit this particular region in Germany. Foods such as weisswurst and lebkuchen are equally steeped in tradition and originality, claiming a corner of the minds and hearts of all who live or visit there. The beer as well maintains a large part of the social life and structure within the region, and, if tourists are only exposed to Bavaria, then their lasting assumption of Germans enjoying beer certainly would not be a wrong one to make. Overall, the hegemony Bavaria has on the stereotypes of German cuisine and culture is easily understood when considering the rich and unique lifestyle Bavarians lead.

 

 

Bibliography

• https://www.oktoberfest.net/oktoberfest-statistics/
• “Germany’s States and Regional Food Specialties.” Germanfoods.org, CMA Global Foods – German Foods, 2002, https://germanfoods.org/german-food-facts/bavarian-regional-focus-franconia-munich-allgau/.
• “German americans.” Countries and Their Cultures, www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/German-Americans.html.
• Heinzelmann, Ursula. Beyond Bratwurst: a history of food in Germany. Reaktion Books, 2014, eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=1a8e50ed-c475-4955-83e4-7c74610b653c@sessionmgr102&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1#AN=782322&db=nlebk.
• Norah, Laurence. “Oh Bavaria. Dealing with stereotypes.” Finding the Universe, 17 Nov. 2017, findingtheuniverse.com/2013/08/oh-bavaria-dealing-with-stereotypes.html.
• “Pretzels.” German Food Guide & Directory, German Food Guide, www.germanfoodguide.com/pretzel.cfm.
• Engel, Pamela, and Gus Lubin. “Here’s Why There Are So Many German-Americans In The US.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 6 Oct. 2013, www.businessinsider.com/german-american-history-2013-10.
• “German Immigration.” U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library, edited by Lawrence W. Baker, et al., vol. 1: Vol. 1: Almanac, UXL, 2004, pp. 221-246. U.S. History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3436800018/UHIC?u=gray02935&xid=efaf4636. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.