Inventor Of Small Beer Is Dead At 85
BERLIN (The Global Edition) – Walter Klondeik, inventor of the small beer, has died in Berlin at age 85, his son Walter Klondeik Jr. announced earlier today. Details about Mr. Klondeik’s funeral arrangements will be published at a later date.
Mr. Klondeik’s legacy will no doubt continue to leave a significant mark on society long after his death. His greatest invention, small beer, which was first served mostly in elite clubs and restaurants, became a symbol of the upper class during the second half of the twentieth century. The invention received several honors, including a nod from Time magazine proclaiming small beer the 19th greatest invention of the 20th century. Though people around the world came to embrace it, in many countries small beer is still considered the greatest symbol of class difference between beer lovers. According to unnamed sources, one of the reasons details about Mr. Klondeik’s funereal plans have not been made public is out of fear that opponents of small beer could stage a protest during the ceremony.
In one of his last interviews, Mr. Klondeik said it was his wife who had inspired him to create the invention that would forever change the world.
“It often happened that I’d go to a beer hall with Sara and order two beers, and she would always complain about how the beer was too big for her, and say that she would just prefer to take a sip from mine instead. We argued about it frequently because I was embarrassed to order just one beer for the two of us, and besides, I don’t like it when someone else drinks from my glass. I wondered if there was a way to help people who are unable to consume a normal glass of beer,” Klondeik recalled. Several years later, during a sleepless night, he came up with the idea to invent small beer. Klondeik was convinced that small beer saved his marriage, and possibly thousands of others across the globe.
It took people in Germany a long time to accept small beer. Fiercely debated and resisted in the beginning, it was called derogatory names like “drink of the rich” and “eye drops”. Small beer also inspired doubts about the sexual preferences of men who ordered it, and was only accepted by the public after David Hasselhoff was spotted drinking it.
