Region & History

Budweis is called České Budějovice in Czech and lies where the Malše flows into the Vltava, known in German as the Moldau. King Přemysl Otakar II founded the town in 1265. Its name later traveled the world as a beer designation.

Brewing happened here long before any factory existed. The Bürgerliches Brauhaus Budějovický měšťanský pivovar, now usually called Samson, traces its roots to 1795, when two breweries in the town centre merged. A third, more modern building was added in 1848. Since 1958 the brand has carried the name Samson, after the figure on the fountain in the main square.

The joint-stock brewery Budějovický Budvar was founded in 1895 as a Czech alternative to the German-influenced town brewery. Today it is a state-owned enterprise.

This is how the Budweiser dispute began. Anheuser-Busch in the USA has brewed a beer called Budweiser since 1876. In 1911 the two sides reached their first agreements: the Czechs recognised the American trademark registration but reserved the right to call their beer 'Budweiser' worldwide, with the addition 'original'. That's why Budvar is sold as Czechvar in the USA, while AB InBev sells its beer under the name 'Bud' in parts of Europe. An EU court recently granted the corporation the right to an EU-wide registration of 'Bud', because Budvar could not prove use of the name in Austria, France, Italy and Portugal before 1996.

The question of origin, however, is clearly settled. The three names Budějovické pivo, Budějovický měšťanský var and Českobudějovické pivo have been listed in the EU register as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) since 23 September 2003. The word Budweiser itself does not appear on this list.