Region & History

Trausnitz Castle towers above Landshut's Old Town, and below it a row of gabled houses runs down to the Isar. This is where the Dukes of Bavaria-Landshut once held court, until their partial duchy came to an end in 1503 following a dispute over inheritance. Beer in this city was an official matter early on.

The Historical Lexicon of Bavaria records a brewing charter for Landshut dating from 1409. It's considered one of the earlier regulations in the Old Bavarian region, long before the Purity Law of 1516. That famous law was actually issued in Ingolstadt and applied to the whole, reunified Duchy of Bavaria, Landshut included.

Just how much was drunk in the city is best shown by the Landshut Wedding. In 1475, Georg, heir to the duchy, married Hedwig, a Polish king's daughter, and his father Ludwig IX threw a feast that left chroniclers astonished. Records mention 320 oxen, 500 calves, and 40,000 chickens. The celebration has been re-enacted since 1903, now held every four years over several summer weekends.

Today the city has two breweries, both found in the Old Town. Landshuter Brauhaus traces its roots back to 1493 and, by its own account, belongs to the Eller family. Brauerei C. Wittmann traces its origins to the Dräxlmair inn of 1616 and is now run by the fifth generation of the same family.

Landshut beer has no protected designation of origin of its own. As Bavarian beer, it falls under the EU-protected term "Bayerisches Bier," registered in 2001. So what you're served in Landshut is less a sealed certificate than a very old civic habit.