Today I am proud to present you our next article by a contributing writer. Michael visits for us the new exhibition #keinbierohnealster in Hamburg. Museumlifestyle was invited to this special blogger event at Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte and we are very happy to have found someone, who is interested in beer and culture! And I agree, one of the best beer in Hamburg is “ü.NN IPA Alkoholfrei” by Kehrwieder – no alcohol and so delicious. It tastes a little bit like passion fruit. But at first enjoy reading our new article! Thank you Michael for visiting and sharing your experince at this interesting exhibition.

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This week we have the perfect exhibition for all beer aficionados: Until March 12th, 2017, the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte presents an exhibition on the history of beer and brewing in Hamburg:

I had the fabulous chance to join an exclusive preview of the exhibition last week on the night before the official opening. Curator Ralf Wiechmann welcomed us to the museum and gave us a tour through this truly interesting exhibition. The exhibition covers various aspects of the history of beer: How has it traditionally been crafted? What was its economic role in the past centuries and how did it impact the development of the city of Hamburg? What was its social role and what was its contribution to the nutrition of the people?

Did you know that in medieval times, before the introduction of modern hot beverages such as tea and coffee, on average between 500 and 1000 litres of beer were consumed per person in a year? That’s about 2 litres per day! It was not only used as a drink but also consumed in form of beer soup. The reason is simple – it was affordable, less contaminated with germs than other sources of hydration, and rich with calories. Since not all forms of beer were as strongly fermented as todays beer usually is, they contained less alcohol and were consumed all day by men, women and children!

It seems, the value of beer is not only easily underestimated in nutrition of former times but also in the economic development of Hamburg: In the 13th century, the prosperous development of Hamburgs economy and its many breweries lead to an amazing increase in population from 1.000-1.300 people at the beginning of the century to 4.000-5.000 inhabitants just 100 years later. This was also the time in which a central part of Hamburgs layout and scenery was formed through the damming of the river Alster. The Binnenalster and Außenalster, two ponds resulting from this artificial intervention, remain characteristic features and wonderful sceneries of the hanseatic town.

If you are curious to learn more about the history of beer and Hamburg, I recommend you to visit this lovely created exhibition. It is built with many booths, each one featuring different aspects of the history of beer in Hamburg. To make sure that you find your way, a routing system that inevitably reminds me of Star Trek is printed on the floor. This can never be a bad choice!

If you have the chance, you should consider to join a guided tour through the exhibition, where you may learn many fun facts in the anecdotes about the past centuries. There are also special tours in sign language, for families with children of 5 years and above and – best of all – a tour combined with a beer tasting lead by a beer sommelier on September, 29th – so you better be quick!

In the end, a big thanks goes out to Anna Symanczyk and Hamburg Historical Museums as a whole for organizing this wonderful preview event. It was great to meet so many fellow bloggers in such a relaxed atmosphere and the choice of local beers to try was just awesome!

You can find further posts about the exhibition on these blogs:

Text & Blog – Kein Bier ohne Alster – mehr als eine Ausstellung über die Braukunst
Mit Vergnüngen Hamburg – Alsterwasser oder Radler? Natürlich Alsterwasser!
Alltagsabenteurer – DIE HAMBURGER UND IHR BIER
verWandelbar – Besäufnis im Museum? – #KeinBierohneAlster

#museum | Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte

#exhibition | Kein Bier Ohne Alster

#open | Tue – Sat 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sun 10 a.m. – 6:00, until March 12, 2017

#admission | Adults 9€, Discounts for groups, students and others available

#transport | U3 “St. Pauli” or Bus 112 “Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte”

#dossier (German) | http://bier.hamburgmuseum.de/kein-bier-ohne-alster/

#beer of the evening | ü.NN IPA Alkoholfrei by Kreativbrauerei Kehrwieder

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Text by Michael Schmidt

Michael Schmidt is a software developer and project manager and after meandering through most parts of germany has found his home base in Hamburg. He enjoys opportunities to taste beer or whiskey, ideally outside of the mainstream and in the company of good friends. When he finds the time, he blogs the results of his attempts at photography on www.visualsandvisits.de, which has frustratingly long not been the case.