Riegeler brewery
| Brewery company vorm. Meyer & Sons AG
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1834 |
| Seat |
Riegel am Kaiserstuhl , Germany
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| Branch | brewery |
| Website | www.riegeler.de |
The company of the "Brauereigesellschaft vorm", known in common parlance as the Riegeler Brewery . Meyer & Söhne AG ” is based in Riegel am Kaiserstuhl . The company produced at the Riegel site from 1834 to 2003 and developed into the second largest brewery in Baden . Today the Meyer & Söhne brewery company is part of the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Brewery , which in turn belongs to Brau Holding International . The “Riegeler Bier” brand was retained, the beer of which is now brewed and bottled by the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Brewery at the Donaueschingen site.
history
Parish hall, later the inn "To the golden head"
The history of the brewery begins in what was then the community parlor, the oldest inn "Zum Kopf", which was first mentioned in 1546 as a "common drink room". In 1822 Anton Fuchs started brewing beer there . In 1834 Fuchs sold his brewing rights to the merchant and soap maker Sylvester Meyer (1783–1861), who brewed the first Meyer beer there. In 1839 the tavern was renamed "Zum golden Kopf", which still exists today as a restaurant, hotel and guest house.
Meyer headquarters
In 1838 Sylvester Meyer relocated the brewery from the parish hall to the building complex next to the town hall, which is now the main building, and expanded it. On December 12, 1839, his son Wilhelm Meyer (1816–1884) submitted the “application for the establishment of a brewery”. After acquiring the master's title, Wilhelm Meyer took over the brewery on December 19, 1839, and from 1840 the bar in the brewery restaurant. Until 1840 there were neither beer and brandy bars nor restaurants or eateries in Riegel, only wine bars. Since phylloxera had caused great damage to winegrowers in those years , the conditions for beer sales were very favorable. The beer production was relocated to the new building on Michaelsberg in 1875, the malt house remained in the parent company until the bombing in the Second World War . On July 16, 1991 the whole building burned down, of which only the old two-story cellar remained. Reconstruction began in October 1994. The exterior of the new building was based on the historic predecessor building. On the ground floor there is again a restaurant and an ice cream parlor.
Brewery castle on Michaelsberg
As early as 1830, Anton Fuchs had laid out rock cellars on Michaelsberg and used it to cool beer. When Sylvester Meyer bought the former parish hall in 1834, he also took over the site on the northern slope of Michaelsberg. In 1874, brewery director Wilhelm Meyer planned a new brewery outside the town center, the plans of which were approved in 1875. The existing rock cellars were expanded. Ice, which was broken on the banks of the Elz in the winter months, was used to cool the beer stored in the rock cellars . No beer could be brewed in summer because of the lack of cooling facilities. After the move to the new building on Michaelsberg took place in 1876, a new malt house was built in the parent company area.
Flowering up to the First World War
Operation began under the three sons Adolf (1846–1923, senior businessman and master brewer), Ernst (1848–1922, responsible for economics) and Eduard Meyer (1856–1909, architect of the brewery), who were capable directors of the family business to expand strongly as a mail order brewery. Alsace was also part of the sales area. Already between 1856 and 1870 there had been regular beer shipments to Paris, in 1870 there were around 400 hectoliters per year. In 1888 the company was converted into a stock corporation and from now on operates under the name of "Brewery company formerly Meyer & Söhne" . The first office building was built in 1889, followed by a cellar and a machine house in 1892. A steam engine supplied by Sulzer AG in the generator hall in 1893 was preserved and is now a listed building.
During the construction of the Kaiserstuhlbahn , which runs right next to the brewery premises in Riegel, the brewery received its own direct siding in 1894, from which the beer was dispatched with the brewery's own railway beer refrigerator car . After the provisional construction of a wooden ice house in 1896, the brewhouse was rebuilt in 1898. In 1906 the existing machine house with water tower was built. In 1908 the extension of the office was enlarged, the beer cooling tower was built in 1911 and the mechanical workshop in 1912. In 1919 a warehouse was built on the former ice cellar and in 1923 a carpenter's workshop was installed and the north wall of the brewhouse was built.
The first great heyday of the brewery lasted until the outbreak of the First World War . In 1864 the young brewery had only 12 employees, when the war broke out in 1914 it had already increased to 112. The growth can also be seen in the construction of the numerous beer racks. The Riegeler Brewery was then the second largest brewery in the Grand Duchy of Baden.
As an outward sign of this upswing, some public buildings in Riegel were newly built or renovated through donations from the brewery management. The architectural style is shaped by the drafts of the brewery architect Julius von der Ohe, who did not love the then modern Art Nouveau, but revived baroque forms. Thus the Neo-Baroque became a trademark of the brewery architecture as well as the numerous beer racks and the so-called "Meyerhöfe", which arose in the entire sales area of the brewery in southern Baden as well as in Alsace. Carl Schäfer and Max Meckel were the best-known architects who worked for the brewery.
Riegeler beer racks
The Riegeler Bierablagen were intermediate storage facilities that typically had a rail connection from which regional customers were supplied. Their buildings were at the same time a trademark and advertisement for the brewery and could also have a bar. In 1914 the Riegeler brewery already had 30 beer racks. Here is an excerpt:
| Construction year | Town street | architect | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | Loerrach , Baseler Strasse 162 | Gasthaus zum Adler from 1894 Beer storage and restaurant "zum Meyerhof" | |
| 1895 | Lahr , Kaiserstraße 86 | Carl Schäfer | Rebuilt in 1895 according to plans by Carl Schäfer, enlarged in 1910 |
| 1895 | Freiburg , Schnewlinstrasse 9 | Friedrich Ploch | Connection to Freiburg main station , demolished in 1988 |
| 1896/97 | Schönau / Schw. , Bahnhofstrasse | Carl Schäfer | Connection to the Zell-Todtnau Railway |
| 1897/98 | Rheinfelden , Alte Landstrasse 6 | Carl Schäfer | Connection to Hochrheinbahn , ice machine installed in 1930 |
| 1897/98 | Oberrotweil , Bahnhofsstrasse 48 | Connection to the Kaiserstuhlbahn | |
| 1900 | Emmendingen , Bismarckstrasse 6 | Brütsch | Closing in 1992 |
| 1900 | Ettenheim , J.-v.-Weiß-Str. 10 | Max Meckel | |
| 1903 | Maulburg | Max Meckel | |
| 1903/04 | Colmar , rue de Logelbach | ||
| 1904 | Müllheim (Baden) , Werderstrasse 26 | Julius von der Ohe | Connection to the Müllheim-Badenweiler railway |
| 1905 | Staufen , Bahnhofstrasse | Connection to the Münstertalbahn | |
| 1906 | Murg , main street | Maximilian von der Ohe | Connection to the Hochrheinbahn , neo-baroque style, two-storey residential and administrative building |
| 1906 | Saint-Louis | 1919 sold to Jules Katz after requisitioning | |
| - | Waldkirch | 1908 Car shed built at the branch | |
| 1907 | Kandern , Bahnhofstrasse 19 | Julius von der Ohe | Connection to Kandertalbahn |
| 1908/09 | Offenburg , Okenstrasse 73 | Julius von der Ohe | |
| - | Magdeburg | Erected after 1990, sold in 1995 |
Meyerhöfe
Large Meyerhof Freiburg
Small Meyerhof Freiburg
Former inn "zum Meyerhof" in Loerrach before the fire on March 31, 2009
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A number of restaurants were used as a bar, named "Meyerhöfe" after the family who founded the brewery.
- Large Meyerhof Freiburg. The inn, founded by Wilhelm Meyer in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1885, once stretched from Grünwälderstraße to Salzstraße . The part on the Salzstrasse was destroyed in 1944. The remaining building at Grünwälderstrasse 1 has been remodeled and renovated to look almost true to the original.
- Kleiner Meyerhof Freiburg, Rathausgasse 27 in Freiburg im Breisgau.
- Meyerhof Loerrach. From 1894 the Gasthaus zum Adler in Lörrach functions as a beer rack and restaurant "zum Meyerhof" in Baseler Straße 162.
- Meyerhof Maulburg. In 1896 the Gasthaus "zur Blume" in Maulburg, Hauptstrasse 32, was acquired and redesigned. It will be renamed Meyerhof after the work is completed.
- Meyerhof Villingen. In 1927 the Meyerhof at Niederen Strasse 46 in Villingen was completed.
Economic advancement
In 1923, Robert Meyer (1878–1967), Adolf Meyer's only son, took over management together with his cousin Willy Meyer (1884–1958). The time from World War I, inflation and World War II to the 1950s was very difficult. Only then did an upswing follow. After the Second World War, the number of employees dropped to 98 in 1955 and then increased again. In 1960 Karl Loesch (1924–2011) joined the management team with Robert Meyer. In 1965 there were already 250 employees. After the death of Robert Meyer, Karl Loesch and Dietmar Meyer took over the management in 1967.
In 1972 Dietmar Meyer resigned from the management and sold his 51% share and that of his brother to the Binding Brewery in Frankfurt. Nevertheless, the Binding brewery did not get a majority of the shares, as the majority of shares had been set at 66.1% in 1888, which was also confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice . Walter Hubl became director for the binding portion, followed in 1976 by Dieter Just, who remained on the board until 1993. The other 49% remained in family ownership. Karl Loesch, who was significantly involved in the great upswing in the 1960s, handed over the management of the family portion to his nephew Michael Stumpf-Rodenstock in 1979. The peak was reached in 1977 with almost 400 employees. In 1976/77 a new bottling plant was built opposite the brewery building. At the beginning of 1993 a computer-controlled bottle filling machine was put into operation there. The beer output in 1985 was more than 320,000 hl. In line with contemporary tastes, low-alcohol beer has been produced since 1990. Due to rationalization and mechanization, there were only 160 employees left in 1993.
Takeover and shutdown in Riegel
In 1999, the Binding-Brauerei AG increased its share stake to 99% and took over the Riegeler Brewery. In 2000, the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Brewery , which had already taken over several other breweries since the 1960s, bought the Riegeler Brewery. The Riegel location was originally supposed to continue and was only shut down after Fürstenberg was taken over at the end of 2003 because production at two locations was too expensive in the long term. In the end there were seven employees in Riegel. The Riegeler beer brand will, however, be continued.
Development of the "brewery castle" to the "Riegeler Lofts"
There were many ideas for further use of the “brewery castle”, which is a listed building, after its closure. With the purchase of the brewery building and the property in autumn 2006 by the Gisinger Group from Freiburg, the Riegeler Lofts project is intended to provide living and working spaces as well as service and commercial space. After the official start of the project on July 19, 2007, the first construction phase began in April 2008, the second construction phase in winter 2009 and the third construction phase in spring 2011. In spring 2012, even the parts of the building that were still being planned and built were completely sold out.
Since the end of 2014 only the part of the building of the steam engine has not been restored and is still looking for further use. Areas behind the brewery area, formerly the location for trucks and workshops, was built on with terraced and semi-detached houses in 2016.
The Messmer art hall , located in the front part of the building , shows temporary exhibitions of classical modernism and contemporary art.
New brewery moves in - the art of brewing lives on
As early as 2014, the small brewery Römerbräu Riegel was able to move into new rooms in the Riegeler Lofts and continue the brewing culture at the old location.
More buildings
Railway station economy
When the Schindler brewery was founded in 1845, Wilhelm Meyer tried to build a restaurant at the Riegeler Bahnhof, which was newly built in 1845, on the Badische Hauptbahn , in order to have a second bar. Construction began in September 1847 and operations were probably started in 1848. The building was enlarged considerably as early as 1860. In 1909 the house was modernized and rebuilt in the neo-baroque style under the brewery architect Julius von der Ohe. In 1978 the brewery sold the station restaurant, and the restaurant has been inactive since 1991. A complete renovation took place in 2001/2002 and the rooms have been used privately since then.
Gasthaus Zur Warteck, today a brewery
In 1883, the Meyer family acquired the small house brewery from Guido Weiss, which was adjacent to the brewery castle. Since then this building has been called “Zur Warteck”. After being rebuilt in 1949, the Warteck has been a restaurant for more sophisticated tastes since 1969. In 1998 the decision was made to convert the Warteck and to provide it with a larger beer garden. In 1999 the beer garden of the Riegeler Brauhaus (former Warteck) was inaugurated.
Luxhof
The brewery needed apartments for its employees as well as sheds and stables for horse-drawn carriages, which were available to the family, while the carts and horses for the beer shipments were supplied in the main building. On January 12, 1907, the entire property burned down. The building has been known as the Luxhof since 1907, and Julius von der Ohe designed the new building.
Donations to the community of Riegel
When the cemetery was expanded in 1901, the brewery directors Ernst, Adolf and Eduard Meyer decided to donate a cemetery chapel to the community , which was built according to plans by Paul Meißner in the typical neo-baroque brewery style. The inauguration took place on October 29, 1907 and the donation to the community on January 31, 1908. Around the chapel are the graves of brewery director Willy Meyer, Richard Meyer and Paula, nee. Dietsche, the Stumpf family, Ernst and Flora Meyer, Adolf and Maria Meyer and Robert Meyer arranged. Brewery director Eduard Meyer (1856–1909) is the only one buried in the crypt.
In 1904, the brewery directors gave the community the property in Kehnerstrasse with the building on it for the establishment of a children's school (old kindergarten) . This was officially opened on February 27, 1905, the brewery architect Wilhelm Blaue drafted the plans. In 1909 the brewery owners made a large donation to the Evangelical Church . Thanks to a donation (10,000 marks) from the Meyer brewery directors, a thorough renovation of the Riegeler town hall in the neo-baroque style was also carried out in 1909 under the direction of brewery architect Julius von der Ohe , the total cost of which was 17,000 marks.
The pump house can be seen on a filled-in canal behind the sports fields . The one-storey building of the pump house was built in 1908 as a turbine and machine house for the community based on plans by the brewery architect Julius von der Ohe. The construction is related to the water supply, because in 1908 the water pipes were laid in the village. The old waterworks is located above the Michaelsschule. The construction of the old elevated tank according to plans by Julius von der Ohe also took place in 1908 in connection with the laying of the water pipe in the village.
More breweries in Riegel in the 19th century
Schindler Brewery
In 1845 Ferdinand Schindler received the brewing permit in his house on the Amtshof. This also included a bar. Schindler's other sales sources are not known, but he was tough competition for Wilhelm Meyer. After Schindler's death on December 30, 1858, the company was only continued for a short time by an employee, who, however, soon died.
Henssler Brewery
Another house brewery was opened on October 1, 1861 by Franz Henssler at Hauptstrasse 25, who died seven years later. His widow married the beer brewer Wilhelm Spuler from Forchheim on January 7, 1869, whose son Wilhelm began to expand the brewery in 1897, which he ran all his life as a tough competitor to the Meyer brewery, but which went out after his death in 1926. The associated inn was closed on April 15, 1943.
Weiss Brewery
In 1883, the Meyer & Söhne brewery company bought the former Weiss brewery at Hauptstrasse 9, later called “Warteck”, today “Brauhaus”.
Web links
- Homepage of the small brewery Römerbräu
- www.riegeler-stammhaus.de
- Homepage about steam engine
- Messmer art gallery
Individual evidence
- ↑ albert-gieseler.de: Albert Gieseler - Gebr Sulzer AG. Steam engine , accessed on July 18, 2011
- ↑ Freiburg beer rack . Report on the Freiburg beer deposit. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
- ^ Badische Zeitung: Photos: Fire of the Meyerhof in Lörrach - Lörrach - Photo galleries - Badische Zeitung. Retrieved March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ Riegeler beer. Retrieved December 12, 2014 .
Literature and Sources
- M. Michels: 7000 years of Riegel.
- History Association Riegel eV (Ed.): Riegeler Almanach 1992.
- History Association Riegel eV (Ed.): Riegeler Almanach 1993.
- History Association Riegel eV (Ed.): Riegeler Almanach 1996.
- Power and steam engines