Munich’sHacker-Pschorr beer bottles are easily recognised by their porcelain corks, spin tops, and the label showing a pair of axes and the blue star. The first Hacker brewery is mentioned in 1417, located at the corner of Sendlinger and Hackstraße in Munich. Today the site of the former brewery is home to the Altes Hackerhaus restaurant and is still a popular meeting place for all friends of Hacker-Pschorr. The brewery existed as Hacker-Pschorr from when Joseph Pschorr married Theresia Hacker in the late 18^th century; the brewery was named Hacker-Pschorr for the first time and quickly became Munich’s leading brewery.

After the death of the couple, the breweries were divided into Hacker and Pschorr again, as two of the sons, Georg (Pschorr) and Matthias (Hacker) each inherited one. Joseph Pschorr bequeaths equal shares of the brewery to his sons Georg Pschorr Sr. and Matthias Pschorr Sr. George takes over the Pschorr Brewery and Matthias, the Hacker Brewery. From this point on, the two breweries are operated independently, but in close proximity to each other and the “beer fortress.” The brothers both construct state-of-the-art breweries and benefit from a direct rail line connecting to the train network for their high volume of shipping and export all over the world. The two breweries melted into one for the second time in 1972 and were later bought up by the Schörghubers. Today the brewery is part of the Paulaner Group, which is owned by Munich based and family owned Schörghuber Unternehmensgruppe (50.1%, the groups fields of activity are construction, beverages, hotels, seafood) and Dutch Heineken (49.9%).

At the Oktoberfest you can get Hacker-Pschorr beer at the Hacker and Bräurosl tents. The breweries brands are: Münchner Hell, Münchener Gold, Münchner Alkoholfrei, Naturtrübes Helles, Braumeister Pils, Münchner Dunkel, Münchner Alt, Münchner Radler, Oktoberfest Märzen, Oktoberfestbier, Anno 1417 Naturtrübes Kellerbier, Animator, Superior, Hefe Weisse, Dunkle Weisse, Leichte Weisse and Sternweisse. “Himmel der Bayern” written above the Hacker and Pschorr logos on the labels of the bottles means “Bavarian’s Heaven”, but is officially translated as “The Heaven of the Bavarians”.

Interesting fact: In 1863 Franz Strauss and Josephine Pschorr give birth to Munich’s famous composer, Richard Strauss. His godfather Georg Pschorr supports the talented child, also financially over the course of the musician’s career. To express his thanks, Richard Strauss officially dedicates “Der Rosenkavalier” to his “dear relatives, the Pschorr family in Munich.”