Karlsberg is one of the largest breweries in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

; the Karlsberg Group also owns various other beer brands. It is called Karlsbräu outside of Germany to differentiate it from the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 brewing company Carlsberg.

History

Established 1878 in the city of Homburg

Homburg, Saarland

Homburg is a town in Saarland, Germany, the administrative seat of the Saarpfalz district. With a population of c. 44,000 inhabitants, is the third city in its federal state. The medical department of the University of Saarland is situated here. The city is also home to the Karlsberg beer brewery...

, Saarland

Saarland

Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

 (then part of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

), the brewery was named after the nearby hill and castle (the castle was built in 1755 and later destroyed by French revolutionary

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 troops). Karlsberg's ownership has been handed down through generations. The current owner, Richard Weber, is the great grandson of the brewery's founder.

Brands

Karlsberg's brands include Karlsberg, Beckers, Ottweiler and Kasteel which includes Kasteel Cru

Kasteel Cru

Kasteel Cru is a lager brewed in Alsace, France. Kasteel Cru Rose is also brewed in Alsace with a hint of elderflower & elderberry. Kasteel Cru Rose is a fine, crisp lager with a distinct rose-like colour and a clean, sparkling taste...

, a lager

Lager

Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...

 brewed in Saverne using champagne yeast.

The Karlsberg Group

The Karlsberg Group also owns and distributes other beer brands, among them the German brewery Königsbacher

Königsbacher

Königsbacher is a brewery in Koblenz, in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. Since its foundation in 1689, it has a tradition of brewing beer in the Old Brewery in the historic center of Koblenz. In 1992, the Königsbacher Brewery was taken over by the Karlsberg Group...

 (in Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

) and the French brewery Brasserie de Saverne

Saverne

Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...

. The juice producers Merziger, Klindworth and Niehoffs Vaihinger belong to the company. In 2001 Karlsberg acquired controlling interest

Controlling interest

Controlling interest in a corporation means to have control of a large enough block of voting stock shares in a company such that no one stock holder or coalition of stock holders can successfully oppose a motion...

 in the Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach company from Nestlé

Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...

, including Afri-Cola

Afri-Cola

Afri-Cola is a cola soft drink produced in Germany. The trademark Afri-Cola was registered in 1931 by the company F. Blumhoffer Nachfolger GmbH. The same company also produced Bluna, an orange soft drink. Today the brand belongs to the Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach AG...

 and the mineral water brands Staatlich Fachingen and Hirschquelle out of the Black Forest

Black Forest

The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....

. Alcohol-free drinks today make up more than 50% of the company's turnover

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

(of 691 Million Euros in the fiscal year 2004/05).

External links

• Karlsberg.org (international site in English and German)
• Karlsberg.de (home site in German)
• MiXery.de (in German)