The ubiquitous "§11" symbol on beer / wine kegs

[drakegoodman]

I have acquired quite a few Gruppenbild type pictures now, where a wine or beer barrel appears, usually with a fellow astride it and the symbol §11 drawn in chalk on one end eg:

The Handbook of Imperial Germany says "... it refers either to the end of the active commitment or the required service in the reserves", and I'm quite confident this is the case where "§11" appears in pictures such as the one above.

But here's another take on the symbol:

I was recently provided with this interpretation by a colleague in Kiel, who writes: "§11 is part of the 'Allgemeiner deutscher Bier- Comment', Reclam Leipzig, 1899 (General rules for beer-drinking of the German students) and was well known also in other social groups in the 19th and early 20th century."

§11 - "Es wird weiter gesoffen!" (continuation of drinking).

Eg: www.ttb-biel.ch/downloads/commentklein.pdf

ccasion5:

 

[joerookery]

Way to go! We looked at this earlier and it may indeed be correct. Here is something to consider the order referred to in the handbook is dated 1888 and was relative to every single German.

The student beer rules are dated 1899 having related to only an infinitesimal percentage of the population. So one test is to see if we can find pictures between 1888 and 1899. Darn good thought! :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright:

This is great!

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

From Reservist1 back in 2005:

This is referred to as Paragraph 11 which was a traditional saying in the German army. It is supposed to refer to paragraph 11 of the general orders. There is no paragraph 11 in the official orders. Paragraph 11 describes the proper etiquette for ordering another beer. The symbol is frequently seen chalked on the ends of beer barrels in period photos. It is also seen as part of the thumb lift design on some regimental beer steins. Reservist1

 

[joerookery]

This is where we got the source from:

This is the German Werhordnung of 1888 my copy is from 1914. You can see the section 11 that applies to reservepflicht. This order governed the service of all Germans and was a significant change and concession from the three-year service that preceded this. This is a table of contents only.

 

[joerookery]

This has raised its head again. Good question in which there are two points of view. In the expanded handbook we have continued to look at this with still no firm conclusion. Clearly there was a German beer law as well as a tradition which dated back to the 1820s. This was known as paragraph 11 where the paragraph itself was supposed to say keep on drinking after 10 blank paragraphs. We fully believe that this existed and that it was pretty well known. From what we have been able to ascertain, it seems to have come from one certain student group from Heidelberg University in Baden.

The questions are: was this adopted as a universal beer drinking tradition? Did this apply to non-beer drinking reservist pictures? Why would a very small and select upper-class student group be able to popularize this tradition through the Protestant lower-class areas? Why is paragraph 11 seen on some photographs of barrels but not on all? Why are some of the pictures with paragraph 11 on the end of the barrel done in conjunction with beer drinking and others are not. If indeed the lower-class existed in a culture of public houses and beer drinking why would they adopt any tradition from people that were considered elitist Catholic University students?–It is a good question.

Was paragraph 11 entirely tied to beer drinking or did it have something to do with the universal service regulation paragraph 11? The beer drinking school seems to dismiss the service regulation school based in part by some relatively modern interpretations that are not convincing. In the English language the existence of the rules are spelled out in a 1903 English-language publication entitled “100 years of brewing”. This was not some fly-by-night magazine article but rather something more seriously researched. However, I have been unable to find anything that says that those rules were adopted universally in unit pictures. Likewise, I have seen nothing specific that says that the painting on the end of the barrels was definitely service regulation restricted. Perhaps someone has some sort of sources that explains which one it is?

 

[joerookery]

Here is another example:

Why no paragraph 11? This is FAR 26–far from Heidelberg but still subject to service regulations.


ps825 by joerookery, on Flickr

Does the little RAM indicate bock beer, the stables or something else?

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

// Does the little RAM indicate bock beer, the stables or something else?//

Perhaps it is just a little goat? German soldiers seem to love having animals in their photos. :grommit: Now, if you really wanted to read too much into it, a person could argue it symbolizes a Hammel, which in German, is a castrated ram, indicating a person is all bleat, no balls. However, I vote it's just a nice little goat they grabbed for the photo op.

 

[Robert]

I just stumbled over this old thread. There is a lot of information on the German Wikipedia site. They contribute it to the beer law as drakegoodman describes it ("es wird weitergesoffen", i.e. lets keep on drinking). I found the story quite interesting that Konteradmiral Ludwig von Reuter used §11 as code word for the sinking of the German fleet at scapa flow. "Absaufen" means drowning/sinking but is also applied sometimes to people who drown in beer.

Concerning the goat, it probably is about Bock beer (a stronger beer type, most often dark). You see it on many humorous paintings.

 

[joerookery]

There is a lot of information on the German Wikipedia site.

I am starting to sway that way however, I really object the citations in that site. The English Stein site uses similar citations. But if you look at the pictures the vast majority do seem to have beer associated with the symbol. Not all–but the great majority.

 

[Kelley]

I know Wikipedia is not 100 percent,but is right on the mark.
For one thing, the Student Fraternities were were Protestant in those days, not Catholic.I am sure there were also Catholic ones too but the original ones were pro united German,pro Bismark, Elite class that would be officers. ( I ran into a bunch, from Heidelberg, who saw me in my fieldgray uniform at the Frankfurt/M station this weekend. Quite an interesting conversation for both parties, and yes they still dual)
That being said, as the Wikipedia article points out, Paragraph 11 was also known in the workers guilds also. This would definitely be known by common soldiers.
I will dig around and see if I can find anything actually written using paragraph 11 in something connecting the guild.
Of course if it is also the paragraph dealing with Reserve duty, the Germans do enjoy double meanings. The end of your reserve duty was a pretty big deal and something to celebrate. You will also see
"Parole heißt Heimat, Reserve hat Ruh" on reserve paraphernalia, as well as a lot of pictures. You will also see this on pictures of the guys going to or on the front, as sort of irony, the modern equivalent would be the "One weekend a month my @##" sign in Iraq written by a Reserve or National Guard soldier.

 

[joerookery]

I will dig around and see if I can find anything actually written using paragraph 11 in something connecting the guild.

That would be very helpful! Your thought actually makes sense here. The reservations that I have with this student issue are the sources. It seems as though all of the writing I have seen on this reference back to themselves. The beer Stein collectors have done an excellent job showing examples. However, the sources in the articles do not convince me. However, the sheer volume of pictures has certainly got me leaning that way. Thanks for any help.

 

[joerookery]

Well I now seem fairly convinced. There is no way that this picture has anything to do with reserve service. Look at the helmet. It is a specific helmet made for this celebration or type of celebration. This has to do with drinking not service.


ps3134 by joerookery, on Flickr


ps3134b by joerookery, on Flickr