Traditional brewery Lang-Bräu closes after 170 years: the end of an era!

Traditional brewery Lang-Bräu closes after 170 years: the end of an era!

The traditional Lang-Bräu brewery in Wunsiedel, one of the oldest breweries in Upper Franconia, will stop operating after 170 years. The owners Richard and Rudolf Hopf announced this decision on January 27, 2025 and emphasize that they are not insolvent. The reason for the closure is changeable economic conditions that required an enormous investment of around 12 million euros in order to remain technically up-to-date. However, due to the current market situation, these financial resources could not be provided, which heavily added to the prospects of the brewery, such as rosenheim24.de

In addition to the high investment needs, rising energy costs and raw material prices, as well as falling sales figures, led to the difficult decision to discontinue the company. Owner Richard and Rudolf Hopf expressed that the economic situation for small, medium -sized breweries was recently very tense. Increasingly increased price sensitivity of consumers and changing consumption behavior have additionally burdened the business, such as Infranken.de explained in detail.

last production and special farewell events

The last beer bottles of the Lang-Bräu brewery are to be produced by the end of April 2025. The final operation will be discontinued on May 31, 2025. A return of deposit bottles and beer boxes remains possible until October 2025. In addition, on March 1, 2025, the last big appearance of the brewery will take place at the traditional carnival parade in Schönbrunn, where the brewery wants to say goodbye to its loyal customers and partners.

nine brewery employees have already found new perspectives in other regional breweries and the Braustüberl Schönbrunn is continued by Marion Meyerhöfer, which means that tradition on this place lives on. Talks with other breweries about the possible takeover of Lang-Bräu varieties are underway, but it is unclear whether and how the brands can be continued, such as Gebrauenke-news.de Notice.

A look back at the industry

The closure of Lang-Bräu is not an isolated case in Germany. Between 2019 and 2023, 60 breweries have already been abandoned, which is due to overcapacity and lack of economy. The German brewing industry is located in a transformation process that has been reinforced by the pandemic. The number of brewery locations has dropped from 1,552 (2019) to 1,492 (2023), with smaller breweries particularly affected. Also in Bavaria, 26 breweries have been lost in recent years, which underlines the importance of the Lang-Bräu closure in the context of the regional brewing culture.

Finally, the team of the Lang-Bräu brewery notes that they have been grateful to their loyal customers, partners and friends for their support in recent years and hopes to continue the tradition in Bräustüberl.