History and development of the Mainz breweries

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The history and development of the Mainz breweries can be documented over a period of more than 600 years.

The beginning

Mainz has been a wine-growing region since Roman times (see also viticulture in Mainz ), but it also has a great history of beer. Early records in Mainz show that there were already a few beer houses in the old town of Mainz in the 13th century , but it is not known exactly whether beer was already brewed there. The first brewers in Mainz are also mentioned around 1400. In the literature for the first time with reference to beer brewing, the sale of the dwelling to the Korb (later Schöfferhof brewery ) to Hans Rucker "with all rights, including the brewing equipment, pans, handmade paper and everything that belongs to beer brewing " is mentioned in 1564 .

This was followed by the "Bierbrauerei zur Sonne", the location in Betzelsstrasse, then still Betzelsgasse, is mentioned as early as 1568 as a beer house and the allocation of brewing rights , still without the name Sonne.

The upswing

From the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century, the number of breweries increased to over forty at times. In the middle of the 19th century there was 1 brewery for almost 1000 inhabitants , a rapid development. The brewing trade was therefore also of considerable economic importance, considering that not only the breweries but also the suppliers of hops, malt, barrels and bottles had their sources of income.

Initially, the beer was only brewed for personal consumption in the adjoining taproom . Later it was sold "via the Gass" to surrounding residents. Few of them enlarged the business for production in barrels and bottles. Numerous inventions and industrialization in the 19th century improved the quality of beer. With the development of export and lager beer , the drink became interesting as a commercial item. Beer could now be kept for a long time and could also be transported across city and state borders. Ever larger and better filling systems, the use of the first refrigeration machines and steam engines contributed to the upswing of the large Mainz breweries. To the disadvantage of the small breweries, which from 1850 in Mainz had to struggle more and more with the growing breweries and their cheaper production costs, the several times higher beer tax , the depots of foreign breweries and the falling wine prices. At the end of 1900 there were only a few breweries left, some smaller breweries were bought up, others had to close or were only continued as inns.

The big Mainz breweries

The time of the Mainz shares beer , the Brauerei zur Sonne, Brauerei zum Schwarzen Bären, Altmünster Brewery, Schöfferhof and Rheinische began. However, the production possibilities in the old parent houses were too limited, so new buildings were built and the beer output was increased considerably, around 1900 almost 600,000 hl were reached. The Mainzer Aktien Bier was at times one of the largest breweries in Germany with an annual beer output of almost 300,000 hl in 1907/08. Some of the breweries were converted into joint stock companies (Altmünster Brewery, Schöfferhof and Rheinische, Mainzer Aktien Bier had been an AG since it was founded in 1859). Only the brewery zum Birnbaum remained in the inner city in the former brewery and produced until 1916. This brewery became famous through its owner Michael Geier, who had 36 children with two wives. It is not known whether this was due to the quality of the beer.

The Rheinische Brauerei had to stop its brewing operations in 1912 after the major shareholders demanded their money back, and the Altmünster Brewery followed in 1920. The Black Bear Brewery was hit by an aerial bomb in 1945 and destroyed important parts of the brewery; it could not be rebuilt. The Schöfferhof brewery, which had been working together with the Frankfurter Bürgerbräu since 1905, was taken over by the Binding-Brauerei Frankfurt in 1921 and the brewery was discontinued in the 1960s. Until 1982 the Mainzer Aktien still produced beer, many years earlier already in the majority of the shares of the Binding-Brauerei Frankfurt, before the closure took place here too. Only the Sonnenbrauerei, which was privately owned until the end, brewed its own beer until 1990.

Thus none of the former 40 breweries in Mainz survived until today.

Breweries in the suburbs of Mainz

Beer was also brewed in the suburbs that were not yet incorporated. The Becker brothers were found in Gonsenheim, the excursion restaurant with the Königsborn brewery in Finthen, and in Kastel u. a. to the golden anchor , Diehl and Nachbauer and in Kostheim vd Bergh . Many of these breweries were taken over by larger breweries or had to cease production. In Weisenau, the black bear brewery and the Rheinische brewery moved from the Mainz city area through new construction, as the capacities in the parent houses were too small.

Development since the 1980s

With the Schöfferhofer wheat beer, the name is still reminiscent of a former Mainz brewery, the Schöfferhof brewery. The image of Peter Schöffer was used in a modified form on the old embossed bottles of this former Mainz brewery.

Since the late 1980s, smaller breweries such as the Eisgrub-Bräu (1989), the Brauhaus Castel (1990) and the Rheinhessen-Bräu (2007) have sprung up again in Mainz. The Mainz Proviantamt has been offering Mainz shares brewed according to an old recipe since 2004. This means that the nationwide trend towards small breweries is also continuing in Mainz.

Since 2013 the start-up company "Eulchen Bier", founded by two communication design students as part of a bachelor thesis, has been present in Mainz with various types of beer. After the founders had been running a drinking hall in Mainz Neustadt since 2014 and the "Schlossbiergarten" in the courtyard of the Electoral Palace since 2016 , they took over their first pub in the old town in 2018 with the traditional restaurant "Klingelpaket". In October 2017, the successfully grown company Eulchen GmbH announced the upcoming move of the brewery to the listed rooms of the former Kupferberg sparkling wine cellar as a permanent location with central production. The used area includes a brewing plant of 10 hl, a filling plant and a brewery on 1,000 m². As another craft beer brewery , "Kuehn Kunz Rosen" has been producing several house brands and seasonal beers in the former pipe warehouse of the Mainzer Stadtwerke since 2017, with its own bar and beer garden.

Cultural history

In the city History Museum was from 15 June 2012 to 3 February 2013, the special exhibition "Fresh on tap - History of Brewing in Mainz" instead. The history of the former Mainz breweries was shown in words and pictures on 2 m high display boards. The exhibition was supported by many exhibits such as beer bottles, labels, coasters, documents, beer crates, glasses, mugs and much more.

literature

  • Fresh from the barrel - history of beer brewing in Mainz; Accompanying volume for the exhibition from June 15, 2012 to February 3, 2013. Publisher: Stadthistorisches Museum Mainz
  • The German breweries, malt factories & distilleries owned by joint stock companies Annual report for the financial year 1900/1901, 5th edition, pages 209 to 211, Verlag für Börsen- und Finanzliteratur AG Leipzig 1902
  • The German breweries, malt factories & distilleries owned by joint stock companies.Annual report for the financial year 1909/1910, 13th edition, pages 235 to 238, Verlag für Börsen- und Finanzliteratur AG Berlin-Leipzig-Hamburg 1911
  • Karl Schramm : Mainz Gold in a Glass: The story of the Mainz Aktien-Bierbrauerei tells in the year of its 100th anniversary. 1859-1959. Mainz Aktien-Bierbrauerei, Mainz 1959.
  • Address book for the entire brewing industry in Europe Volume 1 Germany, 8th year 1910, Verlag von Eisenschmidt & Schulze GmbH Leipzig

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive database of the city of Mainz U / 1564.02.20
  2. ↑ Historical Brewery Directory of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 IBV Stuttgart page 285
  3. ↑ Markus Büssecker: Owl beer: carry owls to the Rhine. In: Hopfenhelden o. D., accessed on November 21, 2018
  4. ↑ Carina Schmidt: Eulchen Bier takes over the bell bag in the old town of Mainz. In: Mainzer Allgemeine from February 2018, accessed on November 21, 2018
  5. ↑ Markus Schug: Mainz: Eulchen brewery moves to the Kupferberg. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine from October 6, 2017, accessed on November 21, 2018
  6. ↑ Eulchen Brewery starts on the Kupferberg site in December. In: Sensor from November 17, 2018
  7. ↑ Markus Schug: Young Mainz Brewery: New beer from an old pipe warehouse. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine on May 28, 2018, accessed on November 21, 2018
  8. ^ "Fresh from the barrel - history of beer brewing in Mainz". - Accompanying volume for the exhibition in the City History Museum Mainz from June 15, 2012 to February 3, 2013
  9. ↑ Lots of beer for a small entrance fee ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Sabrina Ott on stuz.de from August 21, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stuz.de