Fuglsang

Fuglsang

The history of Fuglsang Brewery begins in 1865 in Hadersleben, the present-day Danish city of Haderslev in North Schleswig – a region that after the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 belonged to Prussia and only returned to Denmark in 1920 following a referendum. Founder Søren Christian Fuglsang, who had moved to Hadersleben from the now German Ødis after the war, invested the proceeds from the sale of his landholdings in a small brewery and cooperage on Ribe Landevej. The first years were modest: Søren Christian knew little about brewing, and five years after the founding the entire capital was spent and the brewery stood on the brink of bankruptcy. It was only his sons Sophus, Christian and Conrad, who with determination, business acumen and the courage to modernise took hold of the reins, rescued and developed the company into the most significant brewery in North Schleswig.

The decisive growth impulse came in 1879 with the decision to build their own maltings, which over the following decades developed into the most important pillar of the company. In 1885 Sophus Fuglsang invested in a steam engine of eight horsepower, thereby ushering in the industrialisation of the operation – a negotiation marathon that almost caused him to miss his own wedding. In 1902 the company was divided into two separate joint-stock companies – the brewery under Christian Fuglsang and the maltings under Sophus Fuglsang – and by 1935 the operation had achieved an annual production of twelve million bottles. Through the economic turbulence of both World Wars and the difficult period of German occupation, during which the maltings had to switch to malt coffee to survive, the Fuglsang family stubbornly held on to their heritage.

Until its sale to Royal Unibrew A/S in May 2021, Fuglsang was regarded as the oldest brewery in Denmark in family ownership – five generations had steered the company through all its highs and lows. The best-known product was always the Golden Bird, a bottom-fermented strong beer at 5.9% ABV, which alongside the classic Pilsner, the Bock Øl and the unfiltered all-malt beer Fønix shaped the range. Today, Fuglsang Holding continues to operate the maltings in Haderslev and Thisted, which produce around 190,000 tonnes of malt annually, of which 75% goes to export, while the beer production is carried on under the roof of Royal Unibrew and the singing bird – the brewery's emblem since its founding – lives on as a symbol of over 160 years of North Schleswig brewing tradition.