Pfungstadt (dpa/lhe) – It is possible that no more beer will flow from the traditional southern Hessian brewery Pfungstädter in the coming year. “This is currently the status,” said Managing Director Peter Winter on Friday when asked. At a city council meeting, the majority voted in favor of building apartments on the brewery site. A citizens’ request was rejected. The lease runs until the end of next year. A replacement property is out of the question. The owner informed about the possible closure at a works meeting this week. Several media had reported on this.
According to Winter, the brewery with almost 70 employees is doing well economically. That wasn’t always the case. The brewery, which was already financially ailing before the Corona crisis, entered protective shield proceedings in 2020 to avert imminent insolvency. At that time, the shareholders had given the go-ahead for the sale of the site. At that time there was still talk of a new brewery building at a different location. “There is no suitable location,” said Winter. He doesn’t want to completely give up hope of continuing to operate.
The brewery, founded in 1831, is not the only traditional name that could disappear in Hesse. The Binding brewery in Frankfurt is to be closed. Production and bottling of the brands manufactured there are to be relocated. Germany’s largest private brewery group, the Radeberger Group, which belongs to the Oetker Group, justifies the step with drastically increased costs.