The Adipose Society

Since the days when Hitler opted for guns rather than butter, West Germany has known near-starvation, austerity and, for the past decade, such heady abundance that today it has become the Adipose Society. Following the early '50s, when the postwar boom set off what Germans call the Edelfresswelle, the gorgeous gobbling wave, buttocks and bosoms have expanded even more rapidly than the economy, and doctors have recognized two universal ailments: Doppelkinnepidemie, double-chin epidemic, and Haengebauch, or bellyhang. The majority of Germans, from newborn babes to Cabinet ministers, are fatter today than at any other time in this century. A top dietetic authority estimates that 20% of all West Germans are overweight. In a new book titled Grow Thin, but How?, Dr. Andreas Duttler warns: "Corpulence is the dark side of the Economic Miracle."

Rearguard Action. The explosion of vital statistics is amply evident from the island of Sylt, where pneumatic nudists jounce across the beaches, to the Spanish coastline, where bulgy Bruennhildes have already made the authorities regret their decision not to enforce a longtime ban on bikinis. West Germany's men's wear industry in recent years has had to add a new clothing classification, tactfully dubbed Boss or Manager size; nearly a quarter of all new clothes are now bought by customers of managerial girth, while sales of "normal" sizes are diminishing.

French garment manufacturers who export to Germany sell a higher proportion of jumbo sizes (16 to 18) there than anywhere else. In most other countries, also, well-buttressed women steer clear of such revealing clothes as stretch ski pants; in West Germany, according to the world-girdling Bogner stretch-pants concern, there is a steady demand for slipcover sizes.

Many German women are fighting a determined rearguard action, nonetheless. Sales of foundation garments have quadrupled since 1950, and slimming parlors have become almost as thick as Germany's beloved whipped cream. In Bonn, where a session at the stylish Salon der Figur ranges from $6 for a plump pubescent to $125 for a well-marbled dowager, Owner Helga Pietsch sighs: "Ninety percent of the German women who come in here don't even know what a calorie is."

Unconscious Eating. West Germany's government is doing its level best to teach them, for the incidence of arteriosclerosis and other fat-linked ailments is increasing relentlessly. The Society for Nourishment sends 50 lady dieticians around the country giving weight-reducing lectures, and has launched a counter-paunch ing offensive aimed at leavening factory meals. The average West German calorie intake is actually below U.S. and British levels, but such statistics do not account for beer, which pours down Teutonic throats at the annual rate of 432 glasses (100 calories per glass) for each man, woman and child. Besides, the average German consumes more starches and other lipogenic substances: 260 Ibs. of potatoes, 155 Ibs. of bread and 47 chocolate bars each year. German palates are not easily weaned away from such belt-straining delicacies as roast goose (500 calories for a good-sized helping) or Kartoffelkloesse (more than 100 each), their famed potato dumplings. Throughout the country, women hold their midmorning Kaffeeklatsch at pastry shops that are as rich in calorific temptation as the witch's cottage in Hansel and Gretel.

TV has also helped bring the country to polysaturation point by encouraging what doctors call "unconscious eating." To get through a poker hand with Maverick, Germans consume vast quantities of pretzels and pastries, and fill the gaps between snacks with Erfrischungsbonbons, refreshment candies. And they are increasingly reluctant to take exercise. Asks a garment industry official: "Who walks nowadays any more?"

Top Pots. If the automobile is a status symbol in Germany, so is the paunch. Like Julius Caesar ("Let me have men about me that are fat"), German voters consider that sheer heft makes a politician more trustworthy. While Konrad Adenauer has remained reasonably trim, many other politicians have visibly gone to pot. Bundestag Leader Heinrich von Brentano was a skinny 150-pounder when he was first elected in 1949, now weighs around 210. Former War Minister Franz Josef Strauss weighs about 270 Ibs. Many top officers, notably Bundeswehr Inspector General Friedrich Foertsch, also sport unmartial potbellies.

Undisputed champion is Adenauer's chosen successor, stocky (5 ft. 10 in.) Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard, who weighs about 220 Ibs., but has soared far higher on occasion. Whenever a crisis threatens, such as the metalworkers' strike last May, Germans cry: "Let the fat man handle it." After settling the strike, Erhard drew roars of approval with the modest brag: "I threw my whole weight into it."

Some observers consider waistline inflation to be merely "a cultural lag" that will be corrected as Germans accept the idea that good times are there to stay. Others, including Sociologist Rene Koenig, contend that German corpulence is a symptom of subconscious anxiety and guilt. If only for that reason, there seems little likelihood that Germans will ever again want lean and hungry leaders. "A thin Erhard?" asks Koenig. "Never. Why, people wouldn't believe in West Germany's prosperity."

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