Here we go again: After a two-year break from the pandemic, the Oktoberfest starts in Munich on Saturday. And the Wiesn – as the largest folk festival in the world is called in Bavaria – is all about the beer. Last time, in 2019, 7.3 million liters of beer were drunk at the Wiesn.
In this country, alcohol is still seen more as a cultural asset than as a dangerous drug. According to the federal government’s most recent drug report, there are around 1.8 million alcohol dependents in Germany. About 74,000 people die every year as a result of alcohol consumption, also because many traffic accidents are caused by drunk driving. On average, every German drinks more than ten liters of pure alcohol per year.
While this year most Wiesn visitors are primarily worried about Corona in the beer tent, we asked ourselves: What does it actually mean when thousands of people get drunk with the announcement? How much alcohol is okay – and when does it become dangerous?
The Munich Toxicologist and doctor Florian Eyer from the Technical University of Munich confirms that more and more people with acute alcohol poisoning are admitted to the Munich clinics during the Wiesn. The body can handle a one-off intoxication relatively well. But he is still dangerous: “Coordination is severely restricted, you can fall or have an accident. And people who become aggressive through alcohol are at risk of getting into fights or committing other crimes.”
According to Eyer, the danger of alcohol is generally underestimated because it is “ultimately a poison”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/.”Alcohol consumption contributes immensely to the burden of disease and to socio-political problems. We have many patients who abuse alcohol, damaging not only their bodies but also their social environment.” He himself, says Eyer, drinks a maximum of two liters at the Wiesn – and recommends always drinking enough water.
Link to the text about the risk of infection at the Oktoberfest can be found here, everything else about Oktoberfest here.
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