Freiberger
Freiberger
Freiberger Brauhaus is one of the most traditional and historically significant breweries in Germany – deeply rooted in the Saxon mining town of Freiberg in the Erzgebirge mountains, where beer has been brewed for over 800 years and was already documented in 1266, when Margrave Heinrich the Illustrious granted the town the sole right to supply beer to the Saxon mining regions – the oldest documented evidence of beer brewing in Saxony. Closely intertwined with the history of the legendary Freiberg silver mining industry, which made the town one of the most important economic centres of medieval Saxony, Freiberg beer was already being delivered in barrels to Dresden and Graz from 1530 onwards, and the Dresden court itself sourced its beer supply from Freiberg. In 1850 the Freiberg brewing cooperative opened the «Commun-Brauhof zu Freiberg» as the first modern brewery in the city, and in 1863 the Freiberger Brauhaus became the first brewery in Saxony to brew a beer in the Pilsner style under the name «Freiberger Böhmisch» – an innovation that earned the brewery supraregional recognition and an excellent reputation from very early on.
After the upheavals of the world wars and nationalisation in the GDR, the Freiberger Brauhaus regained its independence after reunification and was converted into a joint stock company. In 1996 a modern new brewhouse was built on the northern outskirts of the city, replacing the old brewing site in the heart of the mining town and laying the foundation for impressive growth: in 2006 annual production exceeded the milestone of one million hectolitres for the first time, making the Freiberger Brauhaus one of the most significant breweries in eastern Germany. In the same year the brewery was acquired by the Radeberger Gruppe, to which it belongs to this day.
Freiberger Pils – the brewery's undisputed flagship – stands as a crisp, bitter and pleasantly fresh Pilsner brewed according to Saxon brewing tradition, representing the unmistakable combination of Erzgebirge brewing water, artisanal care and over 800 years of brewing heritage that unites origin and progress in a unique and compelling way. Alongside the Pils, the range encompasses the Freiberger Erzgold Hell, a Bockbier, a Radler, an alcohol-free variant and further specialities – and together they form the beer portrait of a city in which culture, sport and conviviality have been simply unthinkable without Freiberger beer for centuries.