It may also be a money thing. The bars in Germany are either affordable and filled with old regulars waiting to die, or expensive. If you have an expense account, the clubs are great! But if you don't, they'll break the bank.
1. In Germany, alcohol at home is extremely cheap. We're talking, a great Bavarian beer at home is 1 euro per 500ml bottle, and at a bar here in Hamburg at least 5 euro. Similar for wine and spirits. Also, the bars are often low quality, and full of smokers, and have bad music, so the motivation to go to a bar is really poor. There are exceptions, perhaps if you live in Berlin or Mannheim, but in most cities the social drinking situation is not great.
2. In addition, there is no social taboo against drinking at home or alone like in other countries. Even at work, if you pull out a beer at 4pm, especially on a Friday, no one will bat an eyelid. Therefore drinking isn't really an activity in itself so much as a normal part of life.
3. Many of the newer generation are totally straight edge. There is a trend towards not drinking or taking drugs in general compared to older generations or even compared to millennials. They would much rather have a fritz kola or a mate drink
Even on the street its cheap! it's funny when you are choosing a drink its like "Well I'll save some money and get a beer" because Coke is more expensive at your typical Doner spot.
Another interesting effect of this is you see far, far more public drunkenness, especially on the U/Sbahn. But for the most part there are fewer gross-out incidents than on NY subways. Not none, but fewer. You still get the occasional screaming/urinating lunatic. But not as often as you'd expect given the price of beer.
