Lüttje Lage

A Lüttje Lage is a mixed drink made from the special top-fermented Lüttje-Lagen draft beer and grain brandy that is widespread in the Hanover area . A special traditional way of drinking is closely associated with the Lüttje Lage.

Origin and Distribution

View through the old Rösehof in Hanover, with sheet music and lyrics . I was born in the Rösehof ;
Lithographed postcard by Fritz Thörner , Hannovera-Verlag, around 1904

The name Lüttje Lage may come from Latin, where lagona stands for jug or bottle. In old German there was the name lagella for it . The Hanoverian Cord Broyhan from the village of Stöcken (today part of the city) was the first to brew the top-fermented Broyhan beer named after him in 1526. This gave Hanover an economic boom and an important position in the area of brewing at the time. The Lüttje Lage was created at the end of the 19th century from the custom of drinking Broyhan beer with brandy. At first it was an inexpensive drink for the common people that was available in the many small pubs in the old town. A similar drink made by combining beer and schnapps developed in Hamburg as Lütt un Lütt .

In 1904 the local editor Fritz Thörner published his Lüttje-Lagen-Lied , which refers to the Rösehof and which also became known under the title of his first verse.

Today the Lüttje Lage is served as a drink at folk and rifle festivals in the Hanover region , such as the Hanover Schützenfest and the Maschsee Festival . It is also served in some restaurants in the Hanover area . The special Lüttje-Lagen beer is also available in retail outlets.

Outside the Hanover region, the Lüttje Lage is largely unknown. The beer specialty is brewed in Hanover in the Ernst August brewery , the Gilde brewery and the Herrenhausen private brewery .

Way of drinking

Hand position

There are different ways to drink the Lüttje Lage. Originally, schnapps was poured on one's tongue and washed down with beer. Around the 1920s, the common way of drinking the Lüttje Lage from two special glasses at the same time emerged. A small, low glass (5 cl) with Lüttje-Lagen beer (3% alcohol by volume) is taken between thumb and forefinger. The middle and ring fingers of the same hand hold a shot glass filled with grain (1 cl, 32% alcohol by volume). When drinking, the glasses are placed in such a way that the shot glass lies above the beer glass and the grain brandy is drunk together with the beer in one go. Since a little schnapps usually goes wrong with inexperienced people, special aprons or bibs are often available .

literature

Waldemar R. Röhrbein : Lüttje Lage In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 417.

Web links

Commons : Lüttje Lage - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Lüttje Lage in the Hanover Lexicon.
↑ Felix Habart: Hanover Songs / Soundtrack einer Stadt , article on the page of the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from May 29, 2017, last accessed on January 18, 2019
↑ Compare the picture postcard Im Rösehof with a lithograph from Hannovera-Verlag

[1] Lüttje Lage in the Hanover Lexicon.

[2] Felix Habart: Hanover Songs / Soundtrack einer Stadt , article on the page of the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from May 29, 2017, last accessed on January 18, 2019

[3] Compare the picture postcard Im Rösehof with a lithograph from Hannovera-Verlag