Vomitorium: Only common in the German-speaking world?

Question

The first time I saw something like this in a Swiss Restaurant in Zurich I was really confused. What should it be used for?

(photo by TheoPB, available under CC-by-sa)

Then I was told that you can find those sanitary installations particularly in traditional restaurants that are frequently visited by students and they use it if they drank too much beer.

In my various travels through Europe and North America I haven't seen anything like this. So I'm really wondering if I can tell my fellow travelers that I meet if this is a Swiss/German invention? Maybe because of the lively Studentenverbindungen in Switzerland?

Answer 1

I did some research by myself and according to that and your comments, I really think these vomitoriums are particularly available in Switzerland.

In very traditional restaurants or in restaurants that are visited by a lot of students, a lot of Swiss restaurants have them. They are mounted on the wall approximately 1.50 meters above the floor and they have an extra strong flush and large drain. In Switzerland there are a lot of students associations (Studentenverbindungen in German) that regularly have meetings in restaurants. During these meetings they drink really a lot of beer and it is very common that some of them have to vomit because of too much alcohol. To prevent a congested toilet, these restaurants have adapted and built-in these special-purpose vomitoriums.

In other countries the student association doesn't have such a strong and old tradition and therefore it is not necessary to install vomitoriums in restaurants.

Answer 2

No it isn't I have just noticed one in Manchester (UK), see the attached photo.