Our brewery
Our brewery is a true slice of Hanover. Our roots extend back to 1546, deep into the history of this city. The popular local brewer Cord Broyhan oversaw the creation of a new, top-fermented beer in 1526 and the city’s economic reinvigoration was hot on its tail. The Hanover brewer established the city’s own guild in 1546. This institution for liquid gold first came to be recognised by the ‘Broyhan Thaler’ coin, so called after the brewer of the same name.
The brewery timeline
In 1609, the Brewer’s Guild (‘Gilde’) was recognised as its own legal entity. This meant that it could guard the official rights and obligations of the brewers belonging to the guild. In 1868, the Brewer's Guild transformed from a cooperative association into a company. In 1870, the present property on Hildesheimer Strasse, near the Maschsee lake, was acquired. A plant was constructed there in neogothic style in the years up to 1875, though was mostly destroyed during World War II. In 1925, the guild took possession of Lindener Aktien Brauerei (LAB). Both companies merged in 1968 to form Lindener Gilde-Bräu AG.
Over the years between 1970 and 1977, one of the world’s most modern breweries was constructed on Hildesheimer Strasse following a starting investment of 70 million Deutschmark. In 1985, Gilde Brewery became the majority shareholder of Hofbrauhaus Wolters AG.
The Hasseröder Brewery in Wernigerode was absorbed into Gilde Brewery in 1990 and redeveloped into an ultramodern brewery. In 1996, Gilde Brewery celebrated the 450th anniversary of its trademark Broyhan Thaler coin, making it one of Hanover’s oldest companies.
With the Hasseröder Brewery, the Gilde Group achieved a total output of 3.9 million hl for the first time. In 2003, the Gilde Group was acquired by Interbrew. In 2009, the Inbev Group began putting limits on production, which led to 150,000 hl per annum in 2014. As of 2016, Gilde Brewery is back in private ownership as a newly formed GmbH held by two proprietors. The Inbev Group sold the brewery to a medium-sized brewery group which already owned Frankfurter Brauhaus (Frankfurt an der Oder), Feldschlößchen Brewery (Dresden) and the French brewery Brasserie Champigneulles.
