Dortmund as it is today wouldn’t exist without the beer industry, a fact explored and celebrated in a fascinating museum dedicated to the history of local brewing.
Travel through the story of beer manufacturing in the Dortmund Brewery Museum, an intriguing time capsule documenting the city’s famous brands and beverages. Vintage brewing equipment and curios from the industry make this an enlightening stop for anyone interested in beer or local history.
Dortmund’s brewing industry reached its peak at the start of the 20th century, when the city was home to 30 different breweries, many of which were among the biggest in the country. This brewing boom continued into the 1950s, when it was one of the most prolific beer-producing cities in the world. Chart the rise of these different beer makers through the museum, which is located in a complex owned by the still-operational Dortmunder Actien Brauerei, or DAB.
Learn about how beer is brewed and read about the time-honored methods of creating the region’s stronger lagers. Museum tours take place on Sundays, leading you past sights such as a vintage delivery van that carried beer around the country. Look for a historic bottling machine and the machine that gave one free beer a day to the workers at the factory.
Enjoy displays dedicated to the packaging and advertising of beer. Exhibits include a range of Dortmund beer bottles, mugs and glasses from the different decades of brewing. See memorabilia from the city as it used to be and read about how it gained international fame as a beer producer. The museum suggests that the character of modern Dortmund and the growth of the beer industry are linked.
The Dortmund Brewery Museum is located about 1 mile (1.7 kilometers) north of the city center. Take the subway to one of the nearby streets then walk to the attraction. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday and there is an admission fee. Please note that the information is presented in German.
