Sometimes, during conversations with people who remember some of the defunct entities of Lanškroun, my own memories of childhood and youth come to mind. The Lanškroun brewery, in my opinion a significant operation with an interesting history, formed the original history of Lanškroun, which is significantly linked with German culture and architecture.
At the end of the 17th century, Prince Jan Adam z Lichtenštejna decided to build his own princely brewery in Lanškroun next to the old municipal brewery. The construction took place between 1700 and 1711. In the first half of the 19th century, a bottling plant and extensive cellars were added to the brewery. From Na Valech Street, ice obtained from the Lanškroun ponds was poured into them, which was used to cool the beer at that time.
There is a brewery in many towns of our country, but in few of them is such an interesting history written, and beer was brewed here until the 1990s. The mass demise of these operations, which in most cases stood in the middle of buildings near the historical centers of towns, caused considerable problems with their further use. In the period of the mentioned 1900s, full of changes and new challenges associated with the need to adapt to the free market and a growing competitive environment, even the Lanškroun brewery ultimately did not withstand this process.
The burghers of Lanškroun began brewing beer not long after the founding of the town in the middle of the 13th century. In 1700, Prince Jan Adam Ondřej z Lichtenštejna had a princely brewery built in Lanškroun, the beer of which other towns and villages of the estate were obliged to purchase. The municipal brewery was thus unable to compete with the princely one, and its gradual decline culminated in 1891, when it ceased to exist. At that time, no one suspected that in a hundred years, the same fate would befall the prosperous princely brewery.
The princely brewery was perhaps designed by Domenico Martinelli, who at that time drew up the plans for the Nový zámek in Lanškroun for Lichtenštejn.
The brewery was built very quickly, so already in 1701 beer began to be brewed in it. The Lanškroun princely brewery then produced it under various names without interruption until 1999, when its operation was terminated. For many contemporary witnesses, the brand Generál Laudon is associated with this brewery, which was a certain symbol of beer production in the local brewery. If I remember correctly, it was a 7, 10, 11, and 12-degree beer. A dark eleven-degree lager was also produced here. The quality of the beer was very good and could be measured against the excellent beers of the Czechoslovakia of that time.
In 2000, the abandoned brewery operation was bought by the town of Lanškroun for 5.5 million CZK, and negotiations began regarding its new use.
The year 2002 brought the decision to transform the extensive brewery complex into a cultural and commercial center. In 2003, the town architect Přemysl Kokeš prepared a detailed urban study including not only the brewery buildings but also its surroundings, and individual objects were offered to specific interested parties.
A new square was built on the premises of the former Lanškroun brewery, three completely new streets were created, and a park was established. The town of Lanškroun also built an educational trail dedicated to this brewery history, lined with information boards relating to this brewery history with period photos and a slightly more comprehensive description of period records.
Author: David Latif
Acknowledgments to the archive of the town of Lanškroun
1 - Photo of the original operation.
2 and 3 - Photo of the original building and operation from the 90s period.
4 - New reconstruction of the original building into a modern sports complex.
5 - One of the labels of the original brewery brand.
6 - Preview of the board with a photo of the walk-through part of the brewery.
7 - The complex of the former brewery in 2003.
8 - Now in these places is Pivovarské náměstí with a parking lot, Pivovarská zahrada and, for example, a sports center with bowling and a bar, an apartment building, and the administrative building of the company Spektrum. The newest object is the dental center ABE Dent, which was built in 2021 on the northeastern side of Pivovarské náměstí.
https://www.lanskrounsko.cz/en/history/views-into-history/11727-1700-pivovar-v-lanskroune-mel-dlouholetou-tradici-2#sigProIdaf2e6852e6
