König Brewery is a brewery situated in Beeck, a neighborhood of

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

that brews the well-known König Pilsener (known in colloquial German as ''KöPi'').

History

Theodor König was born in 1825 at Üppenhagen (known today as

Selm Selm () is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers north of Dortmund and 25 kilometers west of Hamm. Geography The town belongs to the southern part of the Münsterland ...

-Cappenberg); in 1858, he opened a brewery in the country district of Beeck which, at that time, did not yet form part of the city of Duisburg. He brewed lager in the

Pilsener Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. Histor ...

style, despite the fact that this bottom-fermented style of beer was relatively unpopular at the time. First records of König Pilsener appear in 1911. At first, König Pilsener was known for its bitter hoppiness; later, the beer was adapted to the requirements of a premium lager intended for mass consumption. On 1 February 2000, König Brewery became a subsidiary of the Holsten Group; this group was then sold to Denmark's

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

in 2004. Carlsberg broke up the Holsten Group, selling the König and Licher breweries to

Bitburger Bitburger Brewery (Bitburger Brauerei Th. Simon GmbH) is a large German brewery in Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate. Founded in 1817 by Johann Wallenborn, its Pilsner is the third best-selling in Germany, and the nation's top-selling draught beer ...

Beers

The brewery's most popular beer is König Pilsener. König Alt, a beer brewed in the Rhineland

Altbier Altbier (, ) is a style of beer brewed in the Rhineland, especially around the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a copper coloured beer whose name comes from it being top-fermented, an older method than the bottom fermentation of lagers. ...

style, was developed in the 1970s, but then discontinued along with König Export and König Malz, a malt beer. New products include the alcohol-free Kelts beer, renamed König Pilsener Alkoholfrei in 2005. From 2006 to 2011, a beer-lemonade mix was available under the name König Pilsener Lemon. In 2011, the production of König Pilsener Lemon was discontinued and a new beer-lemonade mix was introduced under the name of König Pilsener Radler.Press release König Pilsener Lemon: http://www.koenig.de/brauerei/pressedetail/24/ Konigpils

Sponsorship

König Brewery sponsors several sports teams in the Rhine-Ruhr region. König Pilsener appears on the ice hockey kit of EV Duisburg and is also the official sponsor of the Nordkurve terraces at the

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

football stadium. The brewery advertises elsewhere in the stadium, as well as in the Georg-Melches stadium in the neighbouring city of

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Advertising

Actor, director and producer

Til Schweiger Tilman Valentin Schweiger (; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor and filmmaker. He became known in the 1990s for films such as '' Manta, Manta'', '' Der bewegte Mann'' and '' Knockin' on Heaven's Door''. He went on to star in international ...

is a corporate representative for König Pilsener. He has appeared on billboard advertising, in print and on television.

References

External links