Coronavirus: A dry spell in Germany’s beer region

Franconian Switzerland is the region with the most breweries in Germany. As a result of the coronavirus lockdown, its beer gardens and pubs currently have no income — and some of them fear they won’t survive.

Alois Schmitt sweeps the pollen from a bench in his deserted beer garden. Coronavirus has driven away all his customers. Pollen swirls up in a yellow cloud as Schmitt sits down and gazes thoughtfully across at his ancient tavern with its listed facade. Above the door, a simple wooden sign reads “Kathi Bräu.” Schmitt is the master brewer here. “We’ll get through this crisis somehow,” he says, “but it’s going to be tough.”

The small “Kathi” brewery near Bayreuth dates back to 1498. One of the oldest in southern Germany, it has been hit very hard. […]

A hundred breweries in the region
[…]

The old breweries are therefore very important for tourism in the area — and there is no higher concentration of them in the world. Aufsess’s four breweries have even earned it a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. Prices here are reasonable, and the landscape, with its green valleys, weird rock formations, and half-timbered villages, is idyllic […]

Empty restaurants
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Dozens of beer festivals cancelled
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Masks in the beer garden?
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Article submitted by, µthos.

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