Linzer Bier is a part of the city.

Behind Linz Bier lies an eventful history that has been driven by grand visions and ambition from the very beginning. It begins in 1638 with the opening of the city brewery on Brauhauslände – known today to all Linz residents as “Untere Donaulände.” In 1869, the Hatschek brothers purchased the city brewery. They later built a new brewery on Kapuzinerstraße, which was renamed the “Linzer Aktien Brauerei” in 1892.

Not far from there, in 1854, Josef Poschacher purchased the former Lustenfelden estate brewery in Lustenau, located on what is now Poschacherstraße. At that time, Lustenau was still a suburb of Linz. When this suburb was incorporated into the city in 1873, the city found itself with a wonderful “luxury problem”: two breweries.

In 1921, the “Linzer Aktien Brauerei” and the Poschacher Brewery merged. The Poschacher Brewery took over beer production, and the beer was uniformly named “Linzer Bier.”

World War II took a heavy toll on the city and the brewery. Yet despite 350 bomb hits, brewing operations resumed quickly after the war ended. No wonder! The industrial city was growing, and so was the thirst for beer. To meet this rising demand for beer, the bottling plant was expanded, storage cellar capacity was increased, and the old wooden barrels were replaced with modern tanks.

Until the late 1960s, people in Upper Austria – both north and south of the Danube – as well as in parts of Lower Austria drank “Linzer Bier,” which came in countless varieties and styles: from “Goldquell” to “Spezial Dunkel” to “Doppelmalz.” Special editions such as “Weihnachtsbräu” and “Osterbräu” were also very popular. But with the end of brewing operations in Linz, the beloved brand also disappeared.

It won’t be until 2017 that Linzer Bier is revived! Those behind the relaunch are well aware of the beer’s long tradition and strong ties to the city and its residents. Driven by the idea of bringing the beer back to the people of Linz, they don’t want to rely solely on its history. Using historical recipes as a foundation, they’ve succeeded in recreating the traditional beer style and reviving the taste of former times.

The idea to draw inspiration from the original 1921 recipe for the relaunch of Linzer Bier came from Martin Simion, a certified master brewer from Linz. He has played a key role in the reintroduction of Linzer Bier.

With the opening of the Linz Brewery in 2022, Linz is once again a proud brewing city.