Böhmisches Brauhaus
The Böhmisches Brauhaus was Berlin's second oldest surviving brewery building until it was demolished for luxury apartments. Yup, dit is Berlin.
World’s saddest “Bohemian” brewery
The saddest brewery in the world was right here in Berlin. At one stage, the Böhmisches Brauhaus in Friedrichshain just wanted to be put out of its misery. It was burned, trashed and pillaged almost beyond recognition.
Time and countless Berlin winters provided little sympathy. It was having the hangover from hell.
I’m not sure if it had Denkmalschutz or not but it appears irrelevant in any case. If you wait long enough demolition becomes the cure, the past its victim. The vandals. History is written by the investors.
The Böhmisches Brauhaus was “one of the most famous, innovative and popular of Berlin’s breweries,” according to the Hans Kohlhase history club in Friedrichshain.
It was founded in 1868 by Armand Knoblauch to brew beer in the Bohemian style. Hence its Böhmisches name. Knoblauch came from a distinguished Berlin family of politicians and architects, which was no doubt helpful when he was trying to get his brewery off the ground. It pays to know the right people, or to know the right people to pay. Nothing has changed.
Before it was knocked down, it was the second oldest surviving brewery building in Berlin after Prenzlauer Berg’s Pfefferberg Brauerei, which dates back to 1842. The Böhmisches Brauhaus was the oldest industrial building in Friedrichshain altogether.
Of course the locals didn’t care about such historical footnotes, all they cared about was their booze, and they gulped it down with gusto and with musto. “You must have another beer!”
The brewery was ideally situated between Landsberger Allee and Friedenstraße where a height difference of up to 10 meters between the streets allowed the construction of three multistoried beer cellars. It expanded quicker than the customers’ bellies and output was increased to 136,000 hectoliters by 1874. That’s a heck of a lot of beer. It made it one of Berlin’s biggest breweries at the time.
There was also a restaurant called “Elysium” with halls and a beer garden for around 2,000 guests. An ice machine constructed by Linde arrived in 1883 and a Daimler vehicle became Berlin’s first beer truck in 1898.
Construction of the “New Malthouse” designed by architect Arthur Rohmer began that same year.
The beer kept flowing amid all the expansion and development of the 3,000-square meter site. The “Pilsator” brand, still available to this day, was introduced in 1908. I’ve never tried it. I heard it was awful stuff. But I’ll give it a try now. (These days it’s brewed by Germany’s most eastern brewery in Frankfurt-Oder. Reviews don’t bode well.)
The Böhmisches Brauhaus became a public limited company in 1910 and merged with the Löwenbrauerei from Hohenschönhausen after the First World War. Production rose to 420,000 hectoliters by 1938. Happy days.
Unfortunately though, they were cut short pretty quickly with the outbreak of the Second World War. The war fucked up everything, including the brewery, which was mostly destroyed. It never brewed another beer again. No wonder it was depressed.
Its cellars were used by the state-run VEB Weingroßkellerei from 1952 to 1992, where wines, Sekt and spirits were stored and bottled. It was the DDR’s biggest wine depot, handling up to 10,000 bottles a day, from Crimean Sekt to Miramar vermouth to the renowned Rosenthaler Kadarka.
Legend had it that Honecker and his SED pals had a wine cellar here in which they use to engage in Sekt orgies. You’d have to listen carefully if you were ever invited to one of those, just so there are no awkward misunderstandings.
I guess the wine, booze and (unconfirmed) Sekt orgies were some consolation for the beleaguered brewery. But the rest of it was used as warehouses for shoes and other boring shite. There was also an electrical substation on the site in 1970s.
The original brewery building served as a sports center from 1951 to 2001. The BSG Empor Brandenburger Tor sports club was established in 1952. They boasted two bowling alleys, an athletics hall, a gym, table tennis, billiards and a sauna (of course).
Part of the complex was turned into a hotel in the late 1990s, while the “New Malthouse” was converted into luxury apartments (of course!) and a conference center by a Hamburg developer between 1999 and 2001. That’s when the sports in the adjacent building came to an end. I’m not sure if one has anything to do with the other.
All that remains of the rest now is the shell of the “Old Malthouse” building. Apparently its façade has to be kept. No doubt the B&L Gruppe will find a way to turn it to its advantage for its “Friedrichshain Höfe” Wohnquartier, a block of around 400 luxury apartments. Because that’s what Berlin needs, more fucking luxury apartments.
All in all, an incongruous end to the unfortunate Böhmisches Brauhaus, though hardly a surprising one. Its neglected inhabitants – an eclectic mix of characters adorning the walls – were cowering in fear of what was coming next. They knew, they knew. Development was taking place at a furious rate around them. It was only a matter of time before it took their place too.
LOCATION AND ACCESS (HOW TO FIND GUIDE)
What: Böhmisches Brauhaus, or “Bohemian Brewery,” which hadn’t brewed a beer since the war. It was named for the type of beer it emulated from Bohemia, not because of its lifestyle. Now deceased unfortunately, killed by mercenaries for money. It was the second oldest surviving brewery building in Berlin. Used to be a great spot for sunsets on the roof, while its walls were home to a colorful cast of characters.
Where: Friedenstraße 89-93/Pufendorfstraße, 10249 Berlin, Germany.
How to get there: If you want to see the remains, the rubble, the best way to get anywhere in this city is by bike. For lazy people, Platz der Vereinten Nationen is the nearest tram stop (M5, M6 and M8) and Strausberger Platz is the nearest U-Bahnhof (U5 two stops from Alex). Here’s a map so alles klar ist.
Getting in: Just walk up the steps from Friedenstraße or past the hotel from Landsberger Allee, find the fence, and hop over if you want to see destruction workers at work.
When to go: Some time in the past would have been good.
Difficulty rating: 10/10. Hard to see something if it’s no longer there.
Who to bring: An undertaker. A priest if you believe in that sort of thing.
What to bring: BEER! The brewery’s gone so you’ll have bring your own. You might want to bring something stronger to help you get over the sight. It ain’t pretty.
Dangers: Demolition workers, nosy passers-by, new neighbors who don’t take kindly to parties or anything that made Berlin great in the first place. It’s all going downhill. Honecker must be turning in his grave.
Filed 3/6/2014 | Updated 15/9/2015