Falkenstein Brewery
The Falkenstein Brewery is a beer brewery in Lienz and the only larger brewery in East Tyrol. The brewery was founded in 1900 and acquired by Gösser Brauerei AG in 1918 . Today the brewery belonged to the Heineken NV group and mainly produces beers of the Gösser Märzen brand .
history
The brewery was founded by the native Matreier Johann Baptist Steiner, who had completed his brewing apprenticeship in Bohemia . Most recently, Steiner had worked as a master brewer in Troppau . After his return to East Tyrol, Steiner founded the “First East Tyrolean Steam Beer Brewery” in 1900, acquiring the “Braustübl” in Lienz and establishing a modern brewery outside the city. Steiner thus entered a niche in the market, since at that time there were only a few small breweries in Lienz, Matrei and Prägraten . For the most part, however, the population consumed red wine from South Tyrol.
The Falkenstein brewery owes its name to the rock of the same name in Steiner's home village of Glanz . He built the brewery on both sides of Pustertaler Straße, and in 1901 he acquired the necessary land from the Dominican convent in Lienz. In 1902 the company building was erected. Steiner was able to quickly increase the brewery's output to 40,000 hl, not only selling his beer in East Tyrol, but also in Upper Carinthia and South Tyrol as far as Bruneck. However, when the First World War broke out, Steiner was forced to stop brewing due to a shortage of materials. In addition, the non-ferrous metals in the brewhouse were needed for the war economy. When the war ended, the brewery also lost its sales market in South Tyrol. The brewery had already been closed in 1917, and in 1918 it was sold to Gösser Brauerei AG. As a result, production was resumed in 1920.
In 1925 the brewery again employed 50 people, operated several trucks as well as an electricity station and a sawmill. After the Second World War, the Falkenstein brewery was able to achieve an output of 11,751 hl again in 1946. In 1977 it became part of Steirerbrau AG with the Gösser brewery and the Reininghaus and Puntigamer breweries . This was swallowed in 1992 by Brau-Beteiligungs AG, which was merged into Brau Union Österreich AG in 1993 . This in turn became part of the Heineken Group in 2003.
Building description
Despite modernization measures, the structure of the industrial building typical of the period around 1900 was retained, with the small-scale glazed, segment-arched window surfaces and the asymmetrical facades being typical. In the center of the industrial plant is the brewhouse with the administration wing. It is a three-storey building with a rectangular floor plan, with the administration wing protruding slightly. After the brewery was taken over by Gösser Brauerei AG, the system also received a three-axis risalit wing on the west side, to which the original chimneys had to give way. The restaurant building on the west side of the street also belongs to the original inventory of the brewery. In the east of the site, the original facility was expanded to include storage and loading halls.
literature
- Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): The art monuments of the political district of Lienz. District capital Lienz and Lienzer Talboden. Verlag Berger, Horn 2007 ISBN 978-3-85028-446-2 (Austrian Art Topography, Volume LVII / Part 1)
- Conrad Seidl : Our beer: all new breweries, all new beers, all new beer bars . Deuticke, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-216-30252-0 .
Coordinates: 46 ° 49 ′ 8.6 ″ N , 12 ° 45 ′ 15.5 ″ E