Sunshine private distillery

Old and new buildings on the old ferry route

Old building from 1828 under renovation

Information board for the route of industrial culture

The private distillery Sonnenschein is a spirits company in Witten - Heven and part of cultural and historical themed routes.

Location

Around 1800 the master distiller Wilhelm Dönhoff founded the first distillery in Heven near the Ruhr, he had the brick building with a decorated archway that still exists today built. In the 19th century, August Lohmann took over the distillery and expanded it further. In 1937 Wittenborg took over the company. In the Second World War, the German Wehrmacht was the main customer, which increased production volumes. In 1957 the company was sold to B. Schmücking GmbH. In 1978, the private distillery Sonnenschein GmbH finally took over the location, modernized the distillery, expanded the product range and built the modern new building on the opposite side of the street. In 2000, after the liquor monopoly was dissolved, the actual distillery was closed. In 2007 the historic building was converted into a residential complex.

family business

The Sonnenschein private distillery originally comes from Witten- Herbede . It was founded in 1876 by Richard Sonnenschein and is now run by the fourth generation of the family by the great-grandson Rainer Mönks. The company bought the premises in Heven because there was no room for expansion at its long-established location.

According to its own information, the company offers around 1000 products from the areas of wine, oils, grain and fruit brandies, liqueur specialties, whiskey, vodka and cognac. There are also presents, wine and whiskey seminars and tastings. In addition to the liquor store, a wine office and, since 2008, a small brewery are operated as a continuation of the "Ruhrtal Brewery", which was closed in 1920.

literature

August Kikuth: From the beginnings and the development of the industry in Heven . In: Ernst Stepperfenne (Ed.): Heven through 11 centuries. A contribution to the history of Witten . Meinerzhagener Druck- und Verlagshaus Walther Kämper, Witten 1990, ISBN 3-88913-134-4 , p. 230-234 ( table of contents [accessed June 22, 2014]).