The ultimate exhibition about beer in Munich takes place at the Stadtmuseum Munchen (City Museum Munich). It is entitled BIER.MACHT.MÜNCHEN (MUNICH – POWERED BY BEER) and has been opened earlier this year, in April. The exhibition is divided into sections which give an overview of how the beer culture in Munich has influenced the city and the Free State of Bavaria. The sections of the exhibition are: Urban Development and Breakthroughs in Brewing, Beer and Branding, Beer in Politics and Society and Traditional and Modern-Day Munich. The exhibition will remain open until january 8, 2017. If you are planning to visit Munich during one of the beer festivals this year, don’t miss MUNICH – POWERED BY BEER. Munich – Powered by Beer explores the production and consumption of beer, especially from the mid-19th century to the present day.

In no other major city does the culture of beer seem to be so closely woven into the fabric of its history. The title of the exhibition makes this much clear. “Bier macht München” (Munich – Powered by Beer) is a direct allusion to the way in which beer has shaped Munich’s urban development. Beer also enjoys strong bonds with the powers that run the city, leaving its stamp on everything from medieval brewing rights to the photos of beaming politicians, tankard of beer in hand, published in the local paper every time a new bar opens. Indeed, as industrialization took hold from the 1870s onwards, Munich itself blossomed into a global beer power.

Over the centuries, Munich’s urban development has largely been shaped by the establishment of breweries and their subsequent relocation to different parts of the city. This presence has remained constant to the present day. By the turn of the 17th century, some 74 privately-run breweries were to be found within the medieval city walls. Their number, however, declined sharply during the 19th century and, by the end of the Second World War, barely a handful of breweries remained in the city.

It is fitting that the potential for diversity still epitomized by the Beer Purity Law has moved to the forefront of discussion on the occasion of its 500th anniversary in Bavaria.It is fitting that the potential for diversity still epitomized by the Beer Purity Law has moved to the forefront of discussion on the occasion of its 500th anniversary in Bavaria.