Żywiec Brewery
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Żywiec Brewery is a brewery founded in 1852 by the Habsburg family in Żywiec (German: Saybusch), at that time in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, now in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It was nationalised after the Second World War. The brewery was acquired by Heineken International in the mid-1990s.
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[edit] History
Founded in 1852, started brewing in 1856. Built and initially owned by Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen and his younger brother Karl Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, and called "Zywiec Archducal Brewery"[1][2]. It remained in the hands of the Habsburgs until nationalisation in the post-WWII communist Poland. At the beginning of 1990s a court case was started by the descendants of the original owners, who sued the Polish government demanding $77 million[3] compensation for the nationalisation and the use of the Habsburg family name and coat of arms for marketing purposes. The case was settled out of court on undisclosed terms in December 2005[4] [5].
[edit] Products
The brewery produces several brands of beer, usually pale lagers of varying strengths from usually 10.5° to 14° Balling or 4-6% alcohol, including:
- Żywiec Full a pale lager
- Żywiec Porter a Baltic porter
- Żywiec Full Light a pale lager
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Newspaper article about the brewery, Gazeta Wyborcza (Katowice), 7 November 2006 (Polish). Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
- ^ "Żywiec" entry in Czuma, Mieczysław; Leszek Mazan (1998). Encyklopedia Galicyjska (in Polish). Kraków: Anabasis. ISBN 83-85931-06-6.
- ^ Radio Free Europe report, 14 December 1999Friar Sues State Treasury Over Sold Brewery. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ http://miasta.gazeta.pl/katowice/1,35019,3054465.html (Polish)
- ^ Beer Battle Comes to a Head. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
[edit] External links
- Żywiec Official Website (English) (Polish)
- Brewery Museum (German) (English) (Polish)
- Documents about the brewery and its owners at the Żywiec branch of Katowice State Archive.
