Schneider Weisse acquires Weltenburger and Bischofshof
Germany’s Schneider Weisse is taking over the world’s oldest monastic brewery Weltenburger and has plans to close Bischofshof brewery.
The sale, which is scheduled to take place on 1 January 2027 also includes the Bischofshof beer brands and, although the Weltenburger brewery, which has been in operation since 1050 and employs 21 people, will remain in operation under Schneider Weisse, the Bischofshof brewery in Regensburg, with 56 employees, is slated to close at the end of 2026.
The domestic beer market in Germany has been shrinking for some time, putting many breweries under pressure, as db reported last year amid a need for the sector to reinvent itself to stay afloat.
Highlighting the situation, Bischofshof and Weltenburger managing director Till Hedrich said that “despite all our efforts and the positive steps taken in recent months, it was no longer economically viable to continue operating the brands”.
Speaking to the drinks business, beer author Adrian Tierney-Jones said: “Monastic brewing is a collaboration between the sacred and the profane, but this change in circumstances makes Weltenburger’s merely profane, though admittedly in the secure hands of one of Bavaria’s top family brewers.”
Tierney-Jones pointed out that “it’s also not surprising given the drop in beer consumption” and yet told db that he “saw little sign of that on a recent trip to Bamberg and Nuremberg”.
The ‘Bavarian solution’
Hedrich has described the buyout as the “Bavarian solution” to the issue of facing liquidation. He explained that “the looming threat of complete closure or being broken up by an investor with no connection to the region or its history can be averted by the ‘Bavarian solution’ now being implemented together with Schneider Weisse, thus ensuring the long-term preservation of an important piece of Bavarian brewing tradition”.
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Now, the task is for the beer business to restructure since the deal will involve consolidating production in Kelheim and Weltenburg in a bid to increase efficiency.
The companies have insisted that the takeover will, hopefully, prevent a complete loss of jobs and the plan is for the 56 affected employees at the Regensburg brewery to be redistributed across the wider business where possible.
Hedrich revealed that the business wants to “place them with suitable companies from the network in the beverage industry and the wider brewery community”.
Bischofshof belongs to a foundation of the Diocese of Regensburg and yet the financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed. The Weltenburg Abbey Brewery, although founded in 1050, has been part of Bischofshof since 1973 and will continue to operate – as will Bischofshof’s logistics division with its 21 employees.
Preservation and consolidation
Describing the importance of the monastic brewery’s heritage, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg insisted: “Besides the aspect of tradition, it is crucial for us that by preserving the brewery at Weltenburg Abbey and Bischofshof’s logistics department, we can at least keep some of the jobs directly in the region.”
But, he added that “any economic basis” was lacking for continuing the brewery in Regensburg.
Schneider Weisse managing director Georg VII Schneider said that the acquisition had created a “portfolio of absolute heritage brands. With the resulting synergies from purchasing to production to sales” and reassured that the company was now “ideally positioned for the current challenges”.
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