01The gesture and its intended meaning
In Germany, clinking glasses (Anstoßen) does not consist merely in raising one's glass: etiquette expects you to meet the eyes of each guest at the moment the glasses touch and the word "Prost!" - or, in a more formal register, "Zum Wohl!" - is spoken. The gaze signals that the toast is addressed to each person individually: attention, sincerity, regard. The press aimed at expatriates makes it a cardinal rule: if there is one rule to remember when visiting Germany, it is to keep eye contact while clinking glasses (IamExpat, 2020). The word "Prost" comes from the Latin prosit - "may it be of benefit" - borrowed in the middle of the 16th century (DWDS/Pfeifer); born in student language, it was already widely current at the moment of toasting from the early 18th century (GfdS).
02Where it goes wrong: geography of the misunderstanding
The typical lapse: a foreign visitor raises a glass to the company at large, or stares at the glass while clinking. For German or Austrian guests, omitting the gaze passes for offhandedness, even for a lack of sincerity - and it summons a superstition that is universally cited although of unknown origin: "seven years of bad sex". The rule is documented with this intensity in Germany and Austria, and the specialist press describes the same norm as particularly entrenched in France and Spain (VinePair, 2025) - France is therefore by no means a stranger to the toasting gaze. The contrast operates rather with Anglo-American usage, where the gaze during a toast is not codified, and with part of East Asia, where a sustained gaze may itself be a source of discomfort - the classic ground of misunderstanding at business dinners.
03Origins: a stubborn myth, a real history
The explanation repeated everywhere - that in the Middle Ages, striking the glasses vigorously would have made a little of each drink spill over into the other, proving the absence of poison, the gaze serving as a test of trust - is a folk etymology: fact-checkers (Ripley's, Snopes) classify it as false. Drinking to health is attested from Antiquity, long before the use of individual glasses, and a few diluted drops would neutralise no poisoning; no known medieval source documents this mechanism.
What history does document is the antiquity and the vigour of the Germanic culture of drinking to health: Zutrinken - proposing healths and answering them glass for glass - was so deeply rooted that the Reichspolizeiordnung adopted at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 devotes an entire title to it, "Von zutrincken", in order to prohibit it, on the grounds that drunkenness engenders "much vice, evil and disorder" (vil lasters, übels und unradts); the imperial police ordinance was reissued in 1548 and then in 1577. The historian B. Ann Tlusty (Bacchus and Civic Order, 2001) has shown the civic role of drinking rituals in the German towns of the early modern period (Augsburg, 1500-1700), where drinking together engaged honour and sealed social bonds. The modern codification of eye contact belongs, for its part, to contemporary manuals of etiquette (the Knigge tradition, which also recommends "Zum Wohl" rather than "Prost" in careful contexts); the "seven years" superstition is a recent piece of folklore, collected as such by university folklore archives, without any dated origin having been established.
04Documented facts and landmarks
No precise, dated intercultural incident reported by a reference press outlet could be documented around the omission of the gaze: the misunderstanding lives in etiquette guides, folklore archives and expatriate accounts, not in the diplomatic record. Two documented landmarks do, however, frame the ritual. In 1530, the imperial prohibition of Zutrinken (Diet of Augsburg) attests that the Germanic toast was already a social fact powerful enough to worry the legislator. In 1898, the innkeeper Georg Lang had the refrain "Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit", by the Bremen journalist Georg Kunoth (1863-1927), sung at the Munich Oktoberfest: there the toast was ritualised on a mass scale; according to a GEMA study of 2017, it is the most played piece of the festival, very often followed by the toast "Oans, zwoa, drei, g'suffa!", where the rule of the gaze applies.
05Practical recommendations
- Do: briefly meet the eyes of each guest at the moment the glasses touch; an instant per person is enough. In formal contexts, prefer "Zum Wohl".
- Don't: clink glasses while looking at your glass, at the table or elsewhere; turn the gaze into an insistent stare.
- Alternatives: in a large group, raise your glass towards the guests out of reach while seeking their eyes, without imposing a full tour of the table.
- Watch out: business dinners and receptions in Germany and Austria; the same expectation exists in France and Spain.
Geography of misunderstanding
Offensive
- germany
- austria
Historical origins
Le boire-à-la-santé germanique (Zutrinken) est documenté — et combattu — dès la première modernité : la Reichspolizeiordnung de 1530 (diète d'Augsbourg) l'interdit sous un titre dédié « Von zutrincken », rééditée en 1548 et 1577 ; Tlusty (2001) documente le rôle civique des rituels de boisson à Augsbourg (1500-1700). La règle moderne du contact visuel pendant le toast relève des codes de savoir-vivre contemporains (tradition Knigge) ; la superstition des « sept ans de mauvais sexe » est un folklore d'origine non établie, largement recensé par la presse (The Local 2019 ; IamExpat 2020 ; VinePair 2025). L'explication par le test anti-poison médiéval est une étymologie populaire démentie (Ripley's, Snopes).
Documented incidents
- 1530 — La Reichspolizeiordnung adoptée par la diète d'Augsbourg consacre un titre « Von zutrincken » à l'interdiction du boire-à-la-santé (Zutrinken), au motif que l'ivresse engendre « bien des vices, des maux et des désordres » (vil lasters, übels und unradts). L'usage, trop enraciné, survécut aux rééditions de l'ordonnance en 1548 et 1577. (Reichspolizeiordnung de 1530, titre « Von zutrincken » — verbatim reproduit par le module RWI-UZH ; datation du 19 novembre 1530 portée par les éditions du texte (ra.smixx.de ; Augsburger Reichsabschied, TU Darmstadt).)
- 1898 — Georg Lang fait chanter dans sa « Riesenfesthalle » de l'Oktoberfest le refrain « Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit » composé par Georg Kunoth : le toast s'y ritualise en masse. Selon une étude GEMA de 2017, c'est le morceau le plus joué de la fête, très souvent suivi du toast « Oans, zwoa, drei, g'suffa! ». (Oktoberfest-Guide, « Ein Prosit — Lyrics and Origin of the Oktoberfest Song » ; Wikipédia (de), « Georg Kunoth ».)
Practical recommendations
To do
- Croiser brièvement le regard de chaque convive au moment où les verres se touchent et où l'on dit « Prost » ou « Zum Wohl » — un instant par personne suffit.
- En contexte formel (dîner d'affaires, réception), préférer « Zum Wohl », registre plus soutenu que « Prost ».
- Attendre que l'hôte ouvre le toast avant de boire la première gorgée.
Avoid
- Ne pas trinquer en regardant son verre, la table ou ailleurs : l'omission du regard passe pour un manque d'égard.
- Ne pas transformer le regard en fixation insistante : il s'agit d'un échange bref, convive par convive.
Neutral alternatives
- Si le regard appuyé est inconfortable, un balayage bref, visage par visage, au moment du choc des verres suffit.
- Dans un grand groupe, lever son verre vers les convives hors de portée en cherchant leur regard, sans imposer un tour de table complet.