Rothaus

The Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus (Rothaus, State Brewery of Baden) is a brewery located 1000m (3300 ft.) above sea level in the town of Rothaus in Germany's Black Forest, in the vicinity of Grafenhausen and the Schluchsee. It is one of the most successful and profitable regional breweries, and in the past decade has become well-known outside of Baden as well.

Products

The most successful product, a Pilsner-style beer, "Rothaus Tannenzäpfle" or simply "Zäpfle", comes filled in 33cl bottles and is available as a "cult beer" throughought Germany in various clubs, bars, and Discothèques. Tannenzäpfle literally means "little pine cones" and is a reference to the location of the brewery in the Schwarzwald. Despite Rothaus refraining from any intensive advertising campaigns, the demand for the once-local beer is spreading further throughout Germany. Not to be overlooked are bars in university dormitories that account for a significant portion of the sales.

The labels of the bottles are printed with a likeness of "Birgit Kraft," a blonde girl in traditional dress for the region, bearing two glasses of beer. Birgit's name is something of a pun; in the local dialect of Alemannic German, "Bier git Kraft", ("Bier gibt Kraft") means "beer gives strength" [http://rothaus.de/html/05birgit/05_brigit_main_inhalt.htm Rothaus.de on Birgit Kraft de icon] . The specific variety of pine cones named as Tannenzäpfle grow upwards from the branches instead of hanging from them in spite of their depiction on the bottle; this is commonly explained as a reference to the position of the bottle while it is being consumed.

History

The brewery was founded in 1791 by the Abbot of St. Blasien as a measure to encourage economic growth in the Black Forest. Through secularization, the cloister eventually changed ownership in 1806 to the Grand Duchy of Baden. The name "Rothaus, State Brewery of Baden" has been in use since the abolition of the monarchy in 1918, and its name still remains to this day although the brewery is now in the full ownership of the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg.

The brand "Tannenzäpfle" is, as of 2006 celebrating its 50th year of existence with a fiftieth anniversary edition of the original 1956 label design.

Economic significance

The brewery experienced a doubling of its output in the 1990's under the direction of the new chairman of the board, Norbert Nothelfer, who had previously been employed in a position comparable to governor of a sub-division of a state. This, while noteworthy in itself, is more remarkable in light of the shrinking beer consumption by Germans. The capacity was increased to one million hectoliters of beer. In the business year 2004, the brewery put out 914,000 hectoliters of beer, grossing roughly 85.5 million Euros.

Since the first of October, 2004, the former Minister of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg Thomas Schäuble has been directing chairman.

References

External links

* http://www.rothaus.de/
* http://www.zum.de/Faecher/G/BW/Landeskunde/rhein/wirtschaft/brau/rothaus/index.htm
* [http://www.zeit.de/2004/29/Alltag_2fTannz_8apfle_29 Man trinkt wieder Heimat] , an article on the growing success of Rothaus.
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,462947,00.html Growing Taste for Black Forest Beer: The Reluctant Cult Brand ] , an article about Rothaus from Spiegel International.

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/world/europe/18beer.html?scp=1&sq=rothaus&st=cse Word of Mouth Fills German Brewer’s Steins ] , an article about Rothaus from The New York Times.