We began our trip in Mannheim watching Germany play in the World Cup. And if everything went according to plan, we would be watching Germany play a quarterfinal match back in Mannheim on the last day of our trip. Well, everything did go to plan as Germany won Group D. They then went on to beat England to set up a showdown with fellow world power Argentina.
Returning to Mannheim in time for the match involved catching a train from Prague at 6:30am. Despite missing our first connection in Dresden and waiting an extra hour for the next train, our final train of the day pulled into Mannheim just ten minutes after originally planned.
Watching the Germany v. Argentina match at the Stadthaus
With temperatures approaching 100 degrees, we planned to watch the match in the air conditioned comfort of the Stadthaus, a shopping complex in the center of Mannheim. By the time we checked into the hotel room and dropped our bags off, it was time for kickoff. As we walked the streets of Mannheim headed to the Stadthaus, we heard a great roar followed by the honking of car horns. Germany had scored an early goal.
Ten hours after leaving Prague, we were watching Germany v. Argentina with Ute and Wolfie and enjoying our first beers of the day. But this isn’t a story about the game (if you haven’t heard, Germany beat Argentina 4-0). It’s about the amazing celebration that followed.
Once the final whistle blew, fans streamed to the unofficial celebration point in the city, the Wasserturm (Water Tower). The party is too difficult to describe in words, but images explain it all.
For a trip that we waited two years to make, we couldn’t have scripted a better end. As we drank our last beers with Ute and Wolfie at the Zentrale, we agreed that we have to do it all again in four years.
Celebrating a great German victory with our friends Ute and Wolfie
After almost a week of pounding the pavement of various German cities, we needed a nature break. Southeast of Dresden is Sächsische Schweiz, (Saxon Switzerland), a national park along the Elbe River. Known for its rock formations, the park is popular with everyone from your average tourist to avid rock climbers.
Typical rock formations in Sächsische Schweiz
Despite the projected 95 degree heat, we forged ahead with our plan to get some exercise. Hopping on the S-Bahn with hordes of other tourists at Dresden’s Hauptbahnhof, the ride to Sächsische Schweiz was a short 40 minutes. Getting off the train at Kurort Rathen, the final part of our journey was a ferry crossing to the opposite bank of the narrow Elbe River.
At this point, I somewhat doubted our decision. Not only was the hot late morning sun beating down on us, but the hordes seemed to have multiplied on the ferry.
The Bastei trail
However, once off the ferry, we quickly separated ourselves from the pack, located the trail and headed up. As our hikes in Europe go, this one was pretty mellow. We were shaded from the scorching sun and we weren’t in the back country. It was more of an uphill walk comparable to the walk to Andechs, just a bit steeper.
Being Germany, we knew we were going to be rewarded with beers for our efforts. Sure enough, when we reached the top, we found a little beer garden amongst the complex of buildings. Sitting down for a rest, we enjoyed a couple of Hefeweizens and a Bratwurst from a nearby stand.
Then we headed back down the trail from where we came. It wasn’t like our hikes in the other Switzerland; in fact it looked nothing like Switzerland. But we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. And there was beer.
The view looking towards the Czech Republic
Obviously, there had to be a plan to visit a brewery somehow in this journey. Hopping back on the S-Bahn towards Dresden, we got off three stops up the line in Pirna. The brewery was located on the opposite side of the city from the train stop.
A very welcome sight
In a way, the several kilometer walk to the brewery was more difficult than our hike. Crossing a bridge over the Elbe River, we passed through the city center and then headed up a hill. While it was not as steep as our hike, we had no protection from the midday sun. And we weren’t quite sure where it was. I was very relieved to see the sign that said Brauhaus Pirna zum Giesser was only 300 meters away.
Merideth enjoying a Pils after a walk in the sun
Finding a table in the shade, Merideth and I quickly ordered beers from our waitress. Having not found a beer menu in the 30 seconds we had been sitting down, we both just instinctively ordered a Pils. Good guess on our part. The golden brew tasted amazing after the long, hot walk.
Finally finding the Getränkekarte, Brauhaus Pirna zum Giesser had an eclectic stable of beers. Unfortunately, the ones I really wanted to try were the seasonals. We had just missed the Maibock and were too early for the Rauchbier. After the Pils, I also tried the Pirnaer Stadtbier, an amber and Weltmeisterbier, their light, summery World Cup beer.
It was our last full day in Germany on the trip. As we enjoyed our late lunch and beers, we reflected on our many beer adventures. The next day, we would be in Prague.
Our stop in Dresden really didn’t have much to do with beer. For years, I have been fascinated by the city and its resurrection from the fire-bombing by Allied planes February 1945. It is estimated that 25,000 civilians died in the raids and subsequent firestorm.
A view of the Dresden’s Altstadt from across the Elbe River.
My recent interest stemmed from our first visit to Munich in 2001. We were at our very first dinner in Germany and Merideth and I were struggling with the Bavarian dialect menu. Nothing seemed to be in our Germany dictionary.
There was an elderly couple sitting close to us. After about 10 minutes of looking at the menu then looking at the dictionary then looking back at the menu, the man finally asked in perfect English, “Can we help with the menu?” We gladly accepted and he and his wife spent the next few minutes translating the menu for us item by item.
In subsequent conversation, we learned that he was a Dresdener and that he was in the firebombing. Having a degree in History and an interest in the Second World War, it was very special to get to talk to this elderly man.
Nine years later, we finally made Dresden part of our Germany itinerary.
The Frauenkirche in Dresden’s Altstadt
A symbol of Dresden’s resurrection is the 18th century Frauenkirche. It seemingly survived the raids only to collapse into a heap of rubble the last day. It remained a heap of rubble for almost 50 years. Reconstruction began in 1993 and was finally completed in the 2000. Using the original plans, the church was rebuilt with the existing stones where possible.
Our hotel was across from the Frauenkirche. Arriving late afternoon, we quickly checked in and then headed out to walk the Altstadt’s cobbled streets. It was one of the most beautiful we had ever seen in Germany. From the impressive buildings to the blindingly gold statues, we wandered around in awe.
The Frauenkirche rose impressively out of the central square. The checkerboard pattern of new and salvaged stones had us pondering how did the builders know where to put them.
Enjoying an Augustiner Edelstoff aus dem Holzfass in Dresden
Merideth and I were quite parched from the walk around the Altstadt in the hot and humid weather. Located the the opposite side of the Frauenkirche from our hotel was Augustiner an der Frauenkirche. Normally, we wouldn’t be drinking Munich beer in Dresden but we learned from our friend Paul that they poured a beer from the barrel. That’s too good an opportunity to pass up.
While Merideth ordered her cherished Helles, I went with Edelstoff aus dem Holzfass. An “Export” lager, the Edelstoff was a bit warm from being out in the heat. The temperature gave it a ‘real ale meets lager’ mouth feel, but the brew was still crisp and refreshing. The next day, I was fortunate enough to have another one. This time from a freshly tapped keg. The beer’s temperature was much more what I would expect from a German lager. Both were excellent, but the colder version paired better with the hot and humid weather.
There are several breweries in Dresden. We needed to cross to the opposite bank of the Elbe River to seek out the first. Looking at my printed out map, I was unsure of whether we could walk there in a timely manner, but we set out on foot anyways. After about twenty minutes of walking, it looked like we were barely halfway there. Reaching a tram stop, we climbed on the next tram headed in our direction. We were dropped off right in front of Brauhaus am Waldschlössen.
Germany’s first shareholder brewery
The history of the Waldschlössen (little forest manor) dates back to 1790 with brewing commencing in the 1830s. The current brewery reopened in 1997. Quite an impressive building, Brauhaus am Waldschlössen sat on top of a hill with Dresden’s largest beer garden overlooking the Elbe River Valley.
The heat of the day was finally breaking and the evening turned quite pleasant. Merideth and I grabbed an unshaded table on the edge of the beer garden.
Waldschlössen’s Zwickelbier and Hefeweizen
Merideth was in luck as Monday was Hax’ntag. For less than 9 Euro, Merideth got a pretty good sized pork knuckle which also included a half liter beer. She paired her Haxe with the Hefeweizen. My beer choice was the excellent Zwickelbier which I paired with a two 75 Euro cent pickles.
We enjoyed the view of the river and the distant Dresden skyline as we devoured our haxe and pickles and drank our beers. Another day, another beer garden, another great memory from Germany.
I’m pretty good at coming up with brilliant ideas. Recently, one of my best ideas was in planning our train trip from Berlin to Dresden. I noticed that one of the intermediate stations was Leipzig, which I remembered was home to one of the few Gose breweries in the world. Realizing that this was a good beer travel opportunity, I planned for us to get off the train in Leipzig, visit the two breweries in the city and get back on the train to continue our journey to Dresden. After confirming that Leipzig Hauptbahnhof had luggage storage, the train tickets were purchased.
Leipzig’s Rathaus
But even great ideas can have flaws. We got off the train in Leipzig and quickly found the luggage storage lockers. Opening the door to one of the available lockers, I slipped my bag in only to have it be several inches too long. Panic set in as I realized that I wasn’t going to be drinking Gose that day.
While, I was panicking, Merideth was thinking. She realized that if we tilted our bags at an angle, they would fit. It took a few minutes of wrestling each bag, but they were eventually safely stored. Soon after that, we were walking the streets of Leipzig in search of our first brewery.
The construction around Bayerischer Bahnhof
Bayerischer Bahnhof, one of the few Gose breweries in the world, was a 20 minute walk from the Hauptbahnhof. Approaching the brewery, I had my second panic attack within an hour. Bayerischer Platz was a fenced in construction zone. “What if the brewery is closed?” I thought to myself. To my relief, we found the entrance, and they were open.
The beer garden at Bayerischer Bahnhof
Bayerischer Bahnhof is an expansive facility. The huge rectangular building is flanked on one side by a tree shaded beer garden. The brewery sits in the middle of the restaurant that seems to go on forever. The first customers of the day, Merideth and I found a table outside.
Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose
Originating in the town of Goslar, a Gose is a top fermented wheat beer flavored with corinader and salt. Fresh from my Berliner Weiße trauma, I was a bit worried about having a similar beer experience. My confidence suffered the added blow seeing on the menu that the Gose could also be flavored with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Merideth also had the option of getting the “Lady-Friendly”, Gose flavored with cherry liquor. Passing on all the girly versions, Merideth and I both ordered “Original Leipziger Gose”.
Our waitress brought over the beers and the big moment had arrived. From the first sip, I loved the brew. The slightly tart beer was wonderfully refreshing, especially on yet another beautiful summer day in Germany. A hint of coriander, which became more prominent as the beer warmed up, gave the beer a kick of spiciness.
By my second or third Gose, I was patting myself on the back for the brilliant plan. Merideth and I enjoyed a nice, semi-leisurely lunch in the beer garden. I even moved on to try another one of Bayerischer Bahnhof brews, a wonderful Schwarzbier.
The tomb of Bach
Leipzig’s other brewery, Brauhaus an der Thomaskirche was located in the center of the Altstadt. As the name implies, the brewpub is next to the Thomaskirche, the 15th century church that holds the tomb of Johann Sebastian Bach. Not being complete beer heathens, Merideth and I went to the church to see the final resting place of the great composer and former choirmaster of the Thomaskirche. We even got the added treat of choir practice, soothing background music to our five minutes of culture. With our normal tourist duty completed we retreated across the street to the brewpub’s beer garden.
The Pils at Brauhaus an der Thomaskirche
To the background music of the laughter and screams of the town’s children playing in the fountain in front of the brewpub, Merideth and I contemplated the Brauhaus beer menu. With a lineup closer to the more standard German variety, they did not brew a Gose. While I started with the Pils, Merideth went for the banana-y Weißbier. I finished up with the Schwarzbier. While not as good as the one I drank earlier in the day, it was still quite nice.
Our time at Brauhaus an der Thomaskirche was short and sweet. We quickly drank our beers and then headed back to the Hauptbahnhof to catch our train to Dresden. We spent less than four hours in Leipzig but it was a great four hours.
We had two more days to explore Berlin which gave us time to venture outside the city center. We called it ‘traveling off the map’ as a number of our brewery destinations weren’t on the free Tourist office maps. Armed with the not-always-reliable Google maps, we hopped on the U-Bahn ready to explore Berlin’s neighborhoods.
Schlossplatzbrauerei Coepenick
We’d already been to Berlin’s smallest brewery. Now, it was time to drink beer at Germany’s smallest brewery. Located a short walk from the Spindersfeld S-Bahn station, Schlossplatzbrauerei Coepenick, as the name suggests, is located in the Schlossplatz in the riverside neighborhood of Köpenick.
Merideth enjoying the sun and her Helles
The brewery and tiny bar occupies a kiosk type building in the small square. The seats in the beer garden must outnumber the seats at the bar by several hundred. With the sun beaming brightly, we grabbed a seat in their beer garden.
From their tiny brewery, Schlossplatzbrauerei Coepenick produced the standard Helles and Dunkel plus a few seasonal beers. On the day of our visit, only the standards were available, so ‘zwei Helles’ it was.
The relaxing, quiet atmosphere was only interrupted by an occasional tram, car or the old guy hacking up a lung. Schlossplatzbrauerei Coepenick was well worth the three trains we had to ride to get there.
Brauhaus in Rixdorf
Walking down a residential street in the Neukölln neighborhood, we had the sneaking suspicion that Google maps had lead us wrong again. To our relief, halfway down the tree shaded block, we finally spotted a faded brewery sign. Brauhaus in Rixdorf, was set back from the street in a small compound. The 19th century building was surrounded on two sides by an expansive and varied beer garden that included a koi pond and several big screens for watching the World Cup.
One of the front dining rooms at Brauhaus in Rixdorf
The main building housed the brewery and a bar on each level. Exploring the building, I was amazed by all the small dining rooms and nooks, all elaborately decorated with wall paintings and knick knacks. It took me several minutes of wandering its halls to discover them all. The other interesting thing about the building, it was completely empty. Everyone was out in the beer garden.
Over a very pleasant lunch of Nürnberger sausages, Merideth and I enjoyed the range of their house beers. We each started with a Weizenbiere and then I moved on to try the Helles and Dunkel. Brauhaus in Rixdorf also had a “Saisonbiere’, their Summer beer, but we passed on that.
The Dunkel at Brauhaus Südstern
We are not experts on Berlin neighborhoods, but we do know from watching House Hunters International that Brauhaus Südstern is located in one of Berlin’s hip up and coming addresses: Kreuzberg. Exiting the Südstern U-Bahn station, the brewpub was just a short walk down the street. There are two beer gardens to chose from, one in the front on the street, the other out back, quiet and peaceful.
Sitting in the street side beer garden, we arrived just in time to watch some of the first knockout match of the World Cup, Uruguay v. South Korea. We spent the first half trying the four house beers, Helles, Pils, Weizen and Dunkel (surprise!). The Helles and Pils were the two stars.
The Brewhouse at Schalander Hausbraueri
We knew nothing of the Fredrichshain neighborhood as we stepped off the S-Bahn at Frankfurter Allee. As we walked the short three blocks to the Schalander Hausbraueri, we fell in love with the neighborhood. We could see ourselves living in one of the flats above the tree-lined avenues. And we could see ourselves walking to our local brewery, Schalander.
A pleasant lunch at Schalander Hausbraueri
Fantasy over, we grabbed one of the tables out front. After a long morning walk, lunch and a few beers was what Merideth and I needed. Merideth’s Flammenhkuchen with ham and onions and my house-made sausages and potato salad went perfectly with the house-made Helles beer. Schalander was one of those places we could have stayed all day, enjoying the beer, sunshine and playing scrabble. But we had other places to be and with great reluctance, we pushed on.
A train passes over Brewbaker
Located north of the Tiergarten, Brewbaker, like Brahaus Lemke was under an elevated railroad track. We stopped by Brewbaker after the German’s huge victory over the English in the World Cup so the crowd was boisterous and festive. With our friends Paul and Eilís, our foursome grabbed a table in the compact beer garden in the back.
Brewbaker was probably the most unique German brewery that we have ever been to. Besides the fine Pils, Brewbaker also had a Summer Stout and Amber Ale. The Summer Stout rivaled any low ABV stout I have ever had in the UK. The roasted malt and chocolate flavors melded perfectly with the light body. As Merideth said, “This truly is a summer stout.” Amber beers are the Rodney Dangerfield of the brewing world. But if more were like the Brewbaker version, maybe they would get more respect. Brilliantly hoppy, the Amber Ale was another great summer beer.
Enjoying a beer and the Germany v. England highlights at Brewbaker
In our three days in Berlin, we made it to nine of the ten breweries on our target list. In reaching the breweries, we traveled to Berlin’s numerous and varied neighborhoods. In doing so, I think we gained a new found respect for the German capital. We might not go as far as to say we love Berlin, but it is definitely growing on us.
