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Munich opens its first alcohol-free beer garden

In a sign of the growing popularity of non-alcoholic drinks in Germany, Munich is aiming to revamp a crime-ridden area of the city centre with its first alcohol-free beer garden.

Published: 16 July 2024 14:09 CEST
Berlin beer garden
Pints of beer sit on the table as a waiter serves food at a beer garden in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jens Kalaene

Despite the grand architecture and high-end hotels surrounding it, Munich’s leafy Karl-Stützel-Platz has long had a reputation for drugs and crime.

But thanks to a new initiative from local business owners and campaign groups, the area near the central station is getting a revamp – starting with a new business that is set to be the first of its kind.

On Thursday, Munich’s first-ever alcohol-free beer garden is set to open near the Botanical Gardens in an event attended by the city’s mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD).

Branded Die Null – meaning zero in English – the new gathering spot will serve exclusively non-alcoholic drinks, including alcohol-free beer, mocktails, juices and other cold soft drinks.

As is typically the case in German beer gardens, guests will also be permitted to bring their own food to consume on-site. 

In addition to food and drinks, there will also be a live cultural programme throughout the summer, including a number of events all free to the public. Bands, choirs and solo artists will perform, and the organisers also plan to host youth events and dance parties.

READ ALSO: 10 things people living in Munich take for granted

According to the project founders – a group of local leaders including local hotel and restaurant owners and cultural organisations – the concept is part of a drive to revitalise the area around Karl-Stützel-Platz and revive some of the square’s former grandeur.

Beer gardens are more about the culture of being together outdoors than alcohol, they told the Süddeutsche Zeitung, making Die Null a beer garden “in a completely traditional sense”. 

Nevertheless, the concept appears to pay homage to the dizzying rise of alcohol-free drinks in Germany and the trend towards mindful drinking.

Recent figures released by the German Brewing Association found that around 700 alcohol-free beer varieties are currently on the market in Germany, with the sector worth around €1.6 billion annually and growing year-by-year.

Back in 2021, the hip Berlin district of Kreuzberg celebrated the opening of its first sober Späti, or corner shop, offering a huge range of non-alcoholic wines, beers, gins and other alcohol-free spirits. 

READ ALSO: Berlin’s first sober Späti – Is ‘mindful drinking’ the new trend?

At the time, the owners of the Späti, who hail from southern Germany, said their selection of more than 200 alcohol-free drinks “helps to answer the question of what to drink when you’re not drinking”.

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FOOD AND DRINK

Turkey and Germany in spicy feud over doner kebab

A spicy row has erupted between Turkey and Germany over what constitutes a doner kebab, with Berlin objecting to a Turkish push for protected status for the iconic snack.

Published: 26 July 2024 14:20 CEST
Turkey and Germany in spicy feud over doner kebab

The humble döner, made with thinly sliced meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, has its origins in Turkey but is also beloved in Germany after being introduced there by Turkish migrants.

In April, the International Doner Federation (Udofed), based in Turkey, filed an application to the European Commission to grant the doner kebab Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status.

From the exact meat and spices to the thickness of the knife used to slice the meat, Udofed wants the definition of the doner to adhere to a strict list of criteria.

If successful, the application would bar businesses in the European Union from using the name döner kebab unless it met the criteria, giving it the same protected status as Italy’s bufala mozzarella or Spain’s Serrano ham.

In its application, Udofed hails the döner’s origins during the Ottoman Empire, citing a recipe found in manuscripts dating from 1546.

READ ALSO: Which cities have the cheapest – and most expensive – döner kebabs in Germany?

But that has sparked an uproar in Germany, where the döner has become an emblem of the country’s large Turkish community, descended from “guest workers” invited under a massive economic programme in the 1960s and 70s.

The German capital even claims the döner kebab to be “a Berlin invention”.

“It happened in Berlin: Legend has it, Kadir Nurman was the first to put the meat in flatbread in 1972 and invented the version of doner that is so beloved in Germany,” according to the city’s website.

“The döner belongs to Germany. Everyone should be allowed to decide for themselves how it is prepared and eaten here. There is no need for any guidelines from Ankara,” said Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, whose parents migrated from Turkey.

‘Meaty argument’

Germany’s agriculture ministry viewed Turkey’s application “with astonishment”, a spokesman told AFP.

If this “imprecise” and “contradictory” proposal is accepted by the commission, “the economic consequences for the German gastronomic sector would be enormous”, the spokesman said.

The DEHOGA hotel and catering union also warned of a “lack of clarity and transparency”, “difficulties with legal definitions” and “a raft of future disputes”.

The German government lodged an objection to the Turkish application just ahead of the European deadline on Wednesday.

Döner kebab in Dortmund

An employee prepares a doner with meat from a kebab skewer in a doner restaurant in the city centre of Dortmund, western Germany. Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP

In Berlin, where the doner has long surpassed the sausage as the convenience snack of choice, Birol Yagci is concerned that the Turkish version only allows beef, lamb or chicken.

“Here it’s different. The traditional recipe is made with veal,” the chef at a Turkish restaurant in the city’s Kreuzberg district told AFP.

Behind him, two columns of meat glisten on their spits, one ironically made from turkey — the bird — which would also not be allowed under the new definition.

READ ALSO: How the humble Döner kebab evolved into Berlin’s go-to fast food snack

“People eat döners all over the world. Turkey can’t just dictate to others what they should do,” said the 50-year-old.

“My customers won’t want to eat lamb. It has a very particular taste,” said Arif Keles, 39, owner of a doner kiosk, whose customers include Germany’s national football team.

Keles too said he would sooner charge the name of his products than alter his recipes.

“My customers know what they’re eating, so as long as the quality is there it doesn’t matter what you call it,” he said.

Döner diplomacy

Germany accounts for two-thirds of döner kebab sales in Europe with the market worth €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) a year, according to the Association of Doner Manufacturers in Europe (ATDID).

In April, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier even took Keles with him on a visit to Turkey as a symbol of the close ties between the two countries.

Keles arrived to serve his wares at an official reception armed with a huge spit of veal, much to the “curiosity” of his guests.

“In Turkey, döner is eaten on a plate. I served it Berlin-style, on bread with sauce, and they loved it,” said the chef, whose grandfather emigrated from Turkey to Germany.

But the European Commission must now decide whether doner diversity will win the day, according to the institution’s agriculture spokesman Olof Gill.

If the objection to the Turkish application is found to be admissible, the two parties will have a maximum of six months to reach a compromise, he said.

By Clement Kasser

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