Bavaria
Traditional brewery closes after 170 years and complains about “ruinous price pressure”
A family brewery attracted nationwide attention with its slogan “Läuft” and a trademark dispute over the mixed drink Spatzi. However, it ends at the end of May.
Beer has been brewed at Lang-Bräu in the Bavarian Fichtelgebirge since 1853 – this will end at the end of May. After more than 170 years, the family brewery had to be given up for economic reasons. The owners and managing directors of the brewery, Richard and Rudolf Hopf, announced this on the brewery’s homepage. “On May 31, 2025, after over 170 years, we will be closing our beloved Lang-Bräu forever,” it says. The Hopf brothers are running the company in the seventh generation.
The announced closure of the traditional brewery is causing a stir in the region. Apart from its long history, Lang-Bräu had also gained attention and customers in the social media age with the well-known advertising slogan “Running”. The brewery is located in Wunsiedel-Schönbrunn in northeastern Bavaria and produces 13 beers and various lemonades.
Lang-Bräu and the Speci dispute
In 2020, Lang-Bräu was even briefly in the national media under the heading of the “Spezi” dispute. After Lang-Bräu brought its mixed drink “Spatzi” onto the market, the Augsburg brewery Riegele, which produces the cola mix “Spezi”, came forward and threatened an injunction. Lang-Bräu gave in in the trademark dispute and changed the name to “Lauser”. However, the Hopf brothers also challenged the confrontation with the slogan “Spatzi – Don’t call it Spezi”.
The decision to stop brewing was “of our own accord,” write Richard and Rudolf Hopf. The Lang Bräu owners emphasize that the brewery is not insolvent and has no debts. “However, due to the aggravated market situation and the urgent need to invest millions in technology and buildings, we see no prospect of managing the whole thing seriously and remaining true to our convictions.”
Specifically, the Hopf brothers are talking about twelve million euros to make brewery technology and buildings competitive and future-proof. In addition, there are falling sales figures across the industry, increases in the costs of energy, raw materials and personnel as well as “ruinous price pressure due to competition from the large breweries in the market”. Under these conditions it is not possible to raise the necessary sum and repay it on sight.
Before it comes to an end, the beer brewers would like to celebrate Carnival one last time at the beginning of March. Brewing will continue until the end of April, and the brewery and an attached drinks market will finally close at the end of May.
Source: Stern
