Brew star

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Brew star ✡

The brewer's (also: Beer Star, beer pointer brewing star, in the Upper Palatinate and beer Zoigl and Zoigl star) is a six-pointed star ( hexagram ) serving as guild signs of brewers and maltsters is used. The brewer's star is also the symbol for the issuing authority of the home Trunks "stars" of a brewery, hence "star" or called.

history

herttel pyrprew from the house book of the Mendelsche Twelve Brothers Foundation from 1425

The six-pointed zoiglstern, which is made up of two equilateral triangles placed one inside the other, symbolizes the three elements involved in brewing, fire, water and air and, on the other hand, the ingredients water, malt and hops that were known in the Middle Ages . The importance of yeast in fermentation was not known at the time, it was commonly referred to as stuff. In the house book of the Mendelsche Twelve Brothers Foundation from 1425, a brewer named Hertel is depicted at a brew kettle with a brewer's star.

There are (so far) various hypotheses about the origin of the brewing star.

  • On the one hand, the hexagram was a sign of alchemy and symbolized the elements. It is possible that the brewing star represented the substances ( fire and water ) necessary for brewing beer .
  • On the other hand, the hexagram was a protective symbol against fire and demons. The risk of fire was one of the greatest threats to medieval cities and accidents occurred time and again while brewing beer. So it is possible that the brewing star should avert fire disaster from the brewery.
  • Another theory, which is derived from the first one, assumes that the brewer's star symbolizes the three elements that are important for brewing (fire, water and air) and describes the ingredients known in the Middle Ages (water, malt and hops) (The yeast as a brewing additive was still missing at the time), so that the six points of the brewing star can be explained.

distribution

Brew star at a Zoiglstube in Tirschenreuth , Bavaria

The brewer's star is particularly common in southern Germany. As an element in pub signs (restaurant boom) it can still be found in many places in Baden , Franconia , the Upper Palatinate and other regions of Germany. The sign was often associated with brewing justice (also: "Brewing law"), that is, with the right to brew beer. It was hung up as a drinking sign when fresh beer was served. In the Middle Ages, the star served as a guide to beer for people who could not read or write. A red star announced the serving of dark beer, a bright star promised light beer.

The brewer's star is used in the logo of some breweries, including the Stuttgart brewery Wulle , the Sternquell brewery Plauen and the Würzburger Hofbräu .

In connection with brewing and serving rights, the brewing star (Zoigl) should not be confused with the star of David , the symbol of the Israelites and Judaism .

literature

  • Günther Thömmes: The beer magician . 2nd Edition. Gmeiner, 2008, ISBN 978-3-89977-746-8 (historical novel about the creation of the brewer's star).
  • Peter Freimark: David shield and brewer's star. About the synonomy of a symbol . In: Yearbook of the Society for the History and Bibliography of the Brewing Industry . 1990, ISSN  0072-422X .
  • Martin Hürlimann: The beer and the stars . Yearbook of the Society for the History of Brewing, Berlin 1976.
  • Matthias Trum: Historical representations, guild signs and symbols of the brewing and malting trade . Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan 2002 (diploma thesis).
  • Matthias Trum: “The Kahl's seal is not unlike a beer mark.” The Star of David and the guild mark of the brewing and malting trade . In: Lilian Harlander, Bernhard Purin (Hrsg.): Beer is the wine of this country. Jewish brewing stories . Volk, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-86222-211-7 , pp. 33-51 .

Fiction

  • Günther Thömmes: The beer magician . 2nd Edition. Gmeiner, 2008, ISBN 978-3-89977-746-8 (historical novel about the creation of the brewer's star).

Web links

Commons : Brauerstern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Movie

ARD Prost and L'Chaim , November 7, 2016, 8:15 p.m., 44 min., From 3 min., Accessed on November 12, 2016

Individual evidence

  1. https://www.hoepfner.de/bierspezialitaeten/sprache-der-brauer.html
  2. fairkehr, VCD magazine, issue 4, 2006, page 42.
  3. Jens Rosbach: Symbol of the southern German brewers: Cheers, Star of David! In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur. October 5, 2018, accessed December 27, 2019 .