Isn’t it intriguing how a simple beverage can weave itself into the fabric of a city’s history? We’re standing before the remnants of the Malzbierbrauerei Groterjan. It was once Berlin’s largest brewery for Malzbier.
Groterjan’s story began around 1880. Braumeister Johann Christoph Groterjan opened a brewery. It started as a branch of the Munich Malzbierbrauerei Castner & Co. His first location was on Rheinsberger Straße 73. In 1894, Groterjan patented his own Malzbier. He advertised it as the best and cheapest dietary malt beer. It was made only from malt and hops. Doctors prescribed it as a remedy for the weak.
By 1929, the Groterjan brewery was the largest of its kind in Berlin. In the 1930s, it produced 250.000 hl of beer annually. It also made 50.000 hl of lemonades and seltzer in bottles and barrels. Groterjan sold his drinks not only in Berlin but also in the surrounding areas. He even exported them.
In 1913, Groterjan acquired the Malzbier business of the brewery Oswald Berliner. The Berliner Weiβbierbrauerei of Eduard Gebhardt became Groterjan’s in 1914. From the 1910s, he had two production sites in Berlin. The brewery added the name Groterjan & Co. The former Weiβbier brewery continued to produce beer under the Berliner Weisse name.
The Groterjan brewery had a capital of 2.6 million Reichsmark in 1944. The brewery’s specialties included Groterjan-Malzbier. It also produced Malztrunk, Berliner Weisse, and Porterbier. Its Malzbier was also called Caramellbier. An advertisement said: “Hat’s Caramellbier gut getan, dann war’s bestimmt von Groterjan”.
Between 1897 and 1905, Groterjan commissioned buildings on Schönhauser Allee 130. Architects Georg Rathenau and Friedrich August Hartmann designed them. These included a Berlin festival hall for over a thousand guests. There was also a bowling alley and a beer garden. Groterjan also built a malt house and breweries. These buildings stand today at Milastraße 1 to 4 and Cantianstraße 13/14. The restaurant business declared bankruptcy in 1908. These buildings are now protected as historical monuments. Milastraße 2 is even called Villa Groterjan.
In Wedding, the company built a new administrative building between 1927 and 1929. Architect Carl-Emil Bruno Buch designed it. He also designed production buildings in the courtyard. The five-story building has a yellow and red brick facade in Expressionist style. The bottle filling plant with storage rooms was placed in a separate building. The stable and garage building on Travemünder Straße were demolished in the 1970s.
After the brewery closed in the 1970s, the buildings stood empty. From 1983 to 1985, the administrative building and bottle filling plant were restored. The other buildings in the courtyard were removed. An original company emblem remains near the gate. Today, Celldegg-GmbH is located in the administrative building.
After World War II, part of the brewery’s property was in the French sector. Another part was in the Soviet sector. The West Berlin brewery continued to produce Malzbier and Porter. In 1961, Schultheiss acquired the Groterjan brewery. It continued under its original name for a few more years. In the 1970s, the brewery was closed. The East Berlin facilities were used for other purposes.
The Groterjan brewery, once a symbol of Berlin’s brewing industry, now exists only in memory and within these walls. Its legacy remains a testament to the city’s rich and varied past.