Cellars and innkeepers of the Erlangen Bergkirchweih

Cellar of the Erlangen Bergkirchweih

Entla's cellar

Entla's Keller has been owned by the Engelhardt family since 1950 and is considered one of the main crystallization points of Erlangen's beer history. One of the offers is a guided tour "into the interior of the Erlangen hill - the origin of the beer city". This leads through the vaults of Entla's cellar and the mysterious expanses of the Henninger cellar.

Henninger Cellar

The Henninger Keller has been owned by the Henninger family since 1816, but they sold the cellar and the brewery to a cloth wholesaler in 1861. The Henninger Keller, formerly also known as the Henninger Reifbräu Felsenkeller, is the largest Burgberg cellar and was the only one to be converted into a tunnel with a north entrance (for cooling) in 1884. With a tunnel length of 861 meters, it is the longest beer cellar in Erlangen .For years, the beer tasting (= tapping) of the Bergkirchweih has taken place in front of the cellar. Afterwards, beer is served "in the mountain", i.e. at the entrance to the actual cellar from the past, throughout the festival.

Old town shooting house

In 1700, a new shooting range was built on the Burgberg near the rock cellars, as the old training ground in the city center had to be vacated due to the construction of Erlangen's new town. As early as 1729, the first shooting house was replaced by a prestigious new building. Around 1750, the so-called third Whitsun holiday was introduced for the shooting of birds or kings, which has remained a public holiday in Erlangen to this day. Since 1911, the Altstädter Schießhaus has only been operated as a pub without shooting and became the property of the city of Erlangen in 1928. In 1999, the shooting house, which was newly built between 1965 and 1967, was sold to Elisabeth Beßler and Siegfried Wichert.

Goldmann cellar

From 1706, the Burgbergkeller belonged to the community brewery of the old town of Erlangen. From 1710, innkeepers and other citizens were able to brew their own beer there in return for payment of kettle money. The Goldmann Keller, formerly Kirchner Keller, has been run by owner and namesake Thomas Goldmann since 2008. In the years before that, the cellar was used for other purposes, e.g. as a kebab stand. Today, the Goldmann Keller is described as the smallest cellar with the largest selection of beer, with the special feature of serving the only smoked beer on the mountain.

Erich Keller

The Erich Keller was founded in 1718 by the Windisch family and has been owned by the Erich family since 1848. The well-known landmark, which was also a central motif in newspaper reports and postcards, was the old lime tree in front of the cellar. However, it had to be felled and replanted in 1926 due to old age. The Erich Keller is defined by outsiders as the heart of the Bergkirchweih. The cellar is also known for its traditional closing song ("Lili Marlen") on the last Monday evening of the Bergkirchweih.

Steinbach cellar

The original location of the brewery was not at the cellars, as was thought, but at the Bayreuther Tor. In 1861, the Steinbach brewing family acquired the property and brewed beer themselves until 1923. After that, however, Steinbach only existed as a malt house. In 1995, the Gewalt family, the new owners of the cellar, started brewing beer again and since 1997 has been represented on the mountain with its own bar. A special feature of the Steinbach cellar are the storks, the Steinbach heraldic animal, which live on the chimney of the house and raise their offspring there.

Helbig Cellar

The Helbig family acquired ownership of the Helbig Keller in 1861, but sold it to a corporation in 1905 following the death of the heir. From then on, the cellar was only used by other breweries, such as Hofbräu (1924) or Kitzmann (1932). In 1949, Siemens, the new owners, built a prestigious residential building on the estate for the Siemens director from Berlin and his wife. In 2000, the house and cellar were sold to the Gewalt family (Steinbach Bräu), who have now resumed management under the name Helbig since 2001 and impress people with many special features. One of these special features is that it is a real cellar, which even offers seating for visitors.

Birkners Keller

Birkners Keller is the easternmost rock cellar on the Bergkirchweih site. It was opened in 1895 by Emil Birkner as a so-called "beer tavern", but was sold and demolished in 1919. The cellar has been in operation again since 1983 and has been serving Kitzmann beer since 1989, mainly to appeal to the younger cellar audience with original Erlangen Bergkirchweih beer.

Hartmann cellar

The eight-sided cellar house of the Hartmanns Keller was built around the end of the 18th century. The origin of the cellar's name can be traced back to what was probably the smallest brewery in Erlangen, which was only run by father and son (Johann and Andreas Hartmann) from 1872 to 1882. In 1886, the Erlwein family became the owners of the Felsenkeller, which resulted in the name change to "Brauerei Erlwein & Schultheiß" in 1895. In the mid-1930s, the cellar was once again owned by the Hartmann family, who served Erlanger Hofbräubier. Outside of the Bergkirchweih period, the family cellar was used as a potato and cabbage store. It is also worth mentioning that the Hartmanns' cellar is the smallest of all the cellars on the mountain in terms of surface area. Today, it is looked after by landlady Rosi Müller, who is also responsible for "Müllers Bergstation" at Weller Keller.

Tucher cellar

Originally, the Burgbergkeller belonged to the Ott brewery, which decided to give up brewing beer in 1918 and sell the brewing quota to the Nuremberg "Freiherrl. Tucher'sche Brauerei". The brewery leased the cellar to various Erlangen innkeepers for the Bergkirchweihaus bar for their festival beers. From 1971, the FSV Erlangen Bruck sports club took over the management of the Tucher cellar and celebrated their promotions there, among other things. Since 2017, the cellar has been owned by the Striegel family, who are continuing to serve beer at the Bergkirchweih with the aim of getting back to the roots of the Bergkirchweih and leaving the "party madness" behind.

Hofbräu Keller

The brewery was founded in 1729 by Georg Ernst Vierzigmann, who produced beer for the needs of the neighborhood until 1870. The First World War led to the brewery being taken over by Hofbräu AG Bamberg-Erlangen in 1919 and was used as a branch. Until 2005, the cellar was run by the Steinmüller family for over 75 years; today it is owned by Michael Gewalt.

Niklas Keller

Niklas Keller was acquired by Karl Philipp Niklas in 1866 and was given a new legal form in 1895, "Erste Erlanger Aktienbrauerei vormals Carl Niklas", in order to raise fresh capital. As the First World War meant that long-distance trade markets were no longer possible, beer production was discontinued in 1919 and the brewing quota was transferred to Henninger Reifbräu. In 1922, the public limited company was also dissolved. Since then, the Niklas Keller has been family-owned and has been run by great-grandson Michael since the 2006 Bergkirchweih.

Hübners Keller

Hübners Keller originally belonged to the brewery of the same name in Hauptstraße. Beer had been brewed there since the end of the 17th century at the latest. Conrad Hübner first joined the brewery as an employee in 1858, but acquired it 15 years later and thus became the new owner. The malt house, which was continued by Heinrich Hübner, was converted into a modern malt factory in the 1920s. After the First World War, however, the owners Hans and Heinrich Hübner decided to cease beer production and sell the entire brewing quota to Brauhaus AG. This merged with the Nuremberg Tucher brewery in 1966. Malt production was finally discontinued in 1970, but the Hübner name survived on the mountain.

Fleischmann's garden

Here, traditional fish specialties from the Wittmann herring roasting house are served in the relaxed atmosphere of a classic beer garden.The insider tip for a quiet retreat

Weller Keller

Müller's Bergstation am Weller-Keller (formerly Monis Bergstation) has also been part of the family since 2007. From the covered terrace you have a wonderful view of the Ferris wheel and the hustle and bustle of the Kirchweiht. In the cozy Weißbier-Keller you can enjoy Franconian specialties in peace and quiet. Müller's mountain station also includes the cellar house at the Hartmann-Keller. So you are in good hands with us even in bad weather.

We serve Franconian cuisine with ingredients from the region: roast pork, roast ox, knuckle of pork, sausages from "Bratwurst Müller", asparagus dishes, family schnitzel, and much more. We also serve Kitzmann-Bergkirchweih beer. Thereare also home-baked cakes and pastries for coffee.