The "Munich Beer Heart" (Münchner Bierherz)

In the 1880s, Munich pathologist Otto Bollinger described cardiac enlargement in people with histories of very heavy beer consumption. A later historical review identifies an 1886 series of 42 cases, many involving people employed by breweries or liquor stores. The condition became known as the "Munich beer heart," or Münchner Bierherz, within contemporary discussions of cardiac hypertrophy and dilation. The House of Bavarian History reports that some historical autopsy accounts described daily consumption of up to 15 liters among brewers, beer drivers, and servers, in a working culture where beer allowances could form part of pay. These are reports about particular occupational and clinical groups, not typical consumption figures for Munich's population. The term belongs to nineteenth-century medical language; the surviving reports do not establish a uniform diagnosis under modern clinical criteria.