"Every sip is harmful" Eckart von Hirschhausen dispels drinking myths

Fabian Tschamper

26.1.2025

According to surveys, almost one in five people abstain from alcohol in the first month of the year. In this interview, Eckart von Hirschhausen speaks plainly about the "number one drug of the people" and explains what it does to us and society.

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  • In his new documentary "Hirschhausen and the power of alcohol", Eckart von Hirschhausen sheds light on the social and health consequences of alcohol consumption and dispels myths.
  • Hirschhausen emphasizes that alcohol is not a risk-free drug, criticizes the careless use of alcohol in society and calls for stricter legal measures to protect against the consequences of alcohol.
  • He emphasizes that young people in particular are increasingly giving up alcohol and that conscious consumption can lead to a better quality of life.

After "Hirschhausen und die Abnehmspritze", films about ADHD and corona, Eckart von Hirschhausen is now once again tackling a controversial health topic that many people are talking about in January: In the time when good intentions are put to the test, the TV doc puts alcohol in the spotlight.

"Because in a strange way, alcohol is the only drug that you have to apologize for if you don't want to consume it," says Eckart von Hirschhausen in an interview.

In his new documentary "Hirschhausen and the power of alcohol", the doctor of medicine sheds light on the social, health and personal dimensions of alcohol consumption. He questions the careless use of the substance, which is often trivialized, and dispels persistent myths. He does this in his own way, of course: Hirschhausen looks at the events with his knowledge as a doctor and science journalist, goes off without a fixed script and shows the viewers behind the scenes where the problems lie in a generally understandable way: "And I bet you a crate of beer that every viewer will recognize themselves a little - so alcohol-free beer! It tastes really good now!"

The documentary "Hirschhausen and the Power of Alcohol" can be seen on Monday, January 27 at 8.15 p.m. on ARD and will be available in the ARD media library from Friday, January 24.

In her opinion, drinking alcohol is not a good idea. Some people even say it has a health-promoting effect; in the past, alcohol was sometimes seen as a panacea ...

Eckart von Hirschhausen: I also liked to believe that red wine protects against heart attacks. But unfortunately that's nonsense. The latest studies clearly say the opposite. A few months ago, the new recommendations of the German Nutrition Society were published. According to these, there is no such thing as risk-free alcohol consumption. Every sip is harmful. That's why I'm making my way across Germany. Because I don't have the impression that word has gotten around everywhere.

Does that mean you don't drink alcohol at all?

I've been drinking a lot less since this movie, taking a break during the week and the whole month in January. And if you want to try it out for yourself, you have eleven other months of the year to choose from. It doesn't have to be during Carnival or October for people in Bavaria.

Beer is generally associated with the end of the day, and also with tradition. Has this traditional approach to alcohol always been completely wrong?

The documentary provides some good examples: Many people have certainly been to the Wiesn, but we start directly in a rather unknown part of the Oktoberfest - with emergency medical care. And I can reveal this much: It's not all pretty what you see there. The word "beer corpse" takes on a concrete meaning. Drinking until the doctor comes! I asked the long-serving "Wiesen-Doc" on duty if there was anything else that could shock him. And he doesn't have to think long and simply says: "No."

«People get drunk in every social class»

Isn't there also a right to intoxication?

Yes, and another important right - the right to physical integrity! Just as smoking passively harms other people, alcohol also harms many others. This starts before birth, when babies in the womb are forced to drink passively and are damaged for life. In the documentary, we talk to a man whose leg was smashed by a drunk driver. Just as we have succeeded in protecting non-smokers, there must now finally be a sensible legal framework for protection against alcohol.

When it comes to drinking, there is no difference between rich and poor, is there?

People drink in every social class. You just see it less in the upper class. The addiction memory in your brain doesn't care whether your bottle of wine costs two euros or 200 euros.

There were times when even Master Eder's Pumuckl drank beer. In your opinion, should alcohol be allowed to appear on TV and in advertising at all?

200 times more money is spent on advertising and seduction than on education. There are clear success stories from other countries: taxes up, availability down, and no marketing for something that causes over 60 billion euros worth of damage in our society - and an infinite amount of human suffering.

Do women actually drink differently to men?

Yes, men most often drink to be sociable, to socialize with others. Women do this too, but unlike men, they drink to numb stress or anxiety or depressive symptoms. In the younger generation, women drink more confidently, as a sign of emancipation according to the motto: "What the guys can do, we can do too."

Is this changing in the younger generation?

But there is another exciting trend. Around a third of today's 20 to 30-year-olds no longer drink alcohol at all. More and more adults are also saying, "I don't need alcohol in my life. Not because they want to give it up, but because it improves their quality of life.

Despite the statistics, it is difficult to really get through to adults and raise awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol on health. How can you make people understand the dangers if consumption is not followed by any directly recognizable harm? After all, nothing seems to happen at first if you get a slightly heavier buzz ...

That's true. What also surprised me was that over 80 percent of addicts have no withdrawal symptoms and think: "It's not that bad for me." Intoxication, singing, making music, dancing, ecstasy exist in all cultures of the world, at all times. It's good to let off steam now and again, especially in stressful times like these - as a counterpart to everyday life. However, when alcohol dominates everyday life, this is no longer a reason to celebrate, but to seek help. Therapies have become much more effective, and we also show this in the film.

How do you now react to funny phrases like "Seven beers are also a schnitzel"?

I say that I don't need a schnitzel every day either.

A life without alcohol could make some people afraid of boredom. How do you think the world or human interaction would change if nobody drank alcohol anymore?

Counter question: How many people do you know who believe that alcohol makes them more interesting? And how many really do?


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