Radeberger Brewery
Encyclopedia
Radeberg
Radeberg is a small town located approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. The company Elektronik Radeberg GmbH, formerly well known in East Germany for the production of portable television sets, is located there....
, a town in the vicinity of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
.
Radeberger ranks number 9 among Germany's best selling breweries.
This beer was also brewed for a period for the King of Saxony. It was the first brewery in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to brew beer exclusively in the Pilsner style and which still exists today.
Radeberger elected to change its name to the present name of Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei. This change came in 1885 when they began shipping across the borders. By the late 1880s the brewers numbers had risen to 300,000 cases per year.
The first German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
elevated Radeberger Pilsner to "Kanzler-Bräu" (chancellor brew) in 1887. The brewery takes pride in the fact that in 1905, Radeberger Pilsner became the favourite drink of king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
Friedrich August of Saxony. Also that same year Radeberger began to export to the USA and Canada.
In 1946, the socialist East German government took control of the brewery. In 1954, the company began to export worldwide.
In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Binding Brauerei purchased the company and returned its sales to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. After the purchase, the brewery underwent comprehensive renovations to bring their brewery up to speed with modern brewing. By 1994, it expanded to 1 million Hectoliter production rate. In 2004 Oetker Gruppe
Dr. Oetker
Dr. Oetker is a German company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, yogurts, frozen pizza and pudding.Also included in the portfolio are a maritime freight business, a bank, a publishing company, an insurance outfit, a brewery and a number of high class hotels all over...
, purchased the company and removed them from the stock market, thus making Radeberger a private company.
Radeberger appears to be the favourite beer of the character Charlie Harper in the TV series Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
. Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, during his days as a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent in Dresden in 1980s, especially enjoyed the beer of Radeberg .