What whisky is to the Scots and grappa to Italians, schnapps should be to the Germans - at least, that's what the country's 550 or so small-scale rye, potato and grain distillers think.

Right now, most of them are concerned about their survival, because at the end of September 2013, after nearly a hundred years, the Federal Monopoly Administration for Spirits will start to be phased out. It's high time for new ideas.

Report by Dorothea Topf.

Made in Germany home page: http://www.dw.de/program/made-in-germany/s-3066-9798