Alsfeld brews!Foundation of the Wallach brewery

This company owes its existence to two distinct developments: first, a centuries-old tradition ended around 1850 when the city of Alsfeld waived its brewing rights. On the other hand, Meyer Wallach, who had immigrated from Ottrau in Electoral Hesse in 1831, attempted to establish a beverage trade with the help of his father-in-law Isaac Spier, who was already established in the spirits business.

As early as 1841, Wallach had criticized the district office, stating that “foreign beer was being tapped in Alsfeld,” and applied for a brewing license. The request was unsuccessful because at that time the city still held the “sole right to brew beer.” Through a permit granted in 1848 for a “wholesale and retail liquor and brandy trade,” Wallach finally succeeded in taking over the municipal facility in 1858. A new brewery was built on what is now the station grounds, which was replaced in 1904 by a larger, modern new building with a steam engine on Grünberger Straße.

In the course of the “Aryanization” later ordered in the economic sector as well, the Wallach family was forced in 1935 to sell their company at a price far below market value to a cooperative of innkeepers – essentially former customers – which had been founded specifically for this purpose shortly before. (NH)