Spaten
A timeline history of Spaten:
- 1397: A brewer named Hans Welser of the Welser Prew at 4 Neuhausergasse is recorded in the Munich tax records. Several ownership changes occurred over the following 125 years.
- 1522: The Welser brewery is bought by family Starnberger.
- 1622: The brewery is taken over by the Spatt family, producing a brew by the Oberspathbräu name, eventually introducing the Spaten brand, referring to spade.
- 1704: Family Sießmayr took over the brewery while retaining the Spaten name.
- 1807: The Royal Hofbräu brewmaster, Gabriel Sedlmayr acquired the Spaten brewery, which at the time was the smallest brewery in Munich.
- 1817: Spaten purchases the Filserbräukeller in Bayerstrasse, which later became known as the Spaten Keller.
- 1839: Following the death of Gabriel Sedlmayr, his sons Gabriel and Joseph take over the brewery.
- 1842: Joseph Sedlmayr withdraws his partnership from Spaten Brauerei and buys the Leistbrauerei.
- 1851: Spaten purchases the property including the Silberbauer Keller in Marsstrasse. Many further acqusitions followed.
- 1854: The move of the entire brewery to Marsstrasse is completed.
- 1861: Joseph Sedlmayr buys the shares of August Deiglmayr, with whom he ran the Franziskaner Brauerei (Franziskaner Leistbräu) since 1858.
- 1867: Spaten Brauerei becomes the largest brewery in Munich and maintains its top position until 1890s. Spaten Brauerei receives a golden medal for their German beer at the World Exposition in Paris.
- 1874: Johann, Carl and Anton Sedlmayr take over the brewery from their father Gabriel Sedlmayr.
- 1884: The graphic artist Otto Hubb designs the Spaten logo, depicting a spade with the initials GS for Gabriel Sedlmayr. The logo is still in use today.
- 1891: Spaten Brauerei founded a branch in London selling the “Spaten Munich Lager” brand.
- 1894: Spaten becomes the first Munich brewery to brew lager in Pilsener style, the “Spaten Münchner Hell”, intended for sale in northern Germany.
- 1895: Spaten is the first brewery to introduce the Hell (lager) in Munich. Other Munich breweries follow its example.
- 1909: Spaten begins to export its beer on a regular basis to America.
- 1911: Heinrich and Fritz Sedlmayr, sons of Anton and Carl Sedlmayr, become chairmen of Spaten Brauerei.
- 1922: Spaten Brauerei and Franziskaner Leistbräu unify into a joint stock company, named Gabriel & Joseph Sedlmayr Spaten-Franziskaner-Leistbräu AG. In the same year, a contract of interessengemeinschaft (interest sharing group) was signed with Löwenbrauerei.
- 1924 The still today used slogan “Lass Dir raten, trinke Spaten” was coined, meaning “Let yourself be advised, drink Spaten”.
- 1926 The Spatenbräu Heilbier was introduced to the market, which from 1941 was named Vollmalz.
- 1943/45 Spaten Brauerei suffers severe damage due to bombing raids by World War II allied forces.
- 1950 The export to Europe and overseas resumes.
- 1964 The first Weißbier by the Spaten Brauerei, the “Champagner Weiße”, is introduced at the Oktoberfest.
- 1992 Spaten Brauerei exceeds the one million hectolitre mark.
- 1997 Spaten Brauerei and Löwenbräu merge into a joint stock company.
Spaten beer is sold in the following beer gardens: