Stein Collectors International
Featured Stein: June 2009
Stein Collectors International
Featured Stein:
June 2009
Brewer's Occupational Stein
by Roy De Selms
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| Beer Brewer Occupational Stein | ||
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It was common in Germany to have beer steins (Bierkrüge) for any occasion and
the stein could
be personalized in many ways. The stein shown above is an occupational stein
(Zunftkrug) and was owned by Johann Maier and shows scenes and tools of his occupation
as a beer brewer. This stein was made about 1900 and shows the brewing technology of the period.
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Wenn Dir der Frühlingsmorgen lacht, If a spring morning smiles on you, Bock, Wurst und Rettig nicht veracht, don’t frown on bock beer, sausage and radish, Gebrauch die Kur zum offnen Spund, but take the cure from an open tap, Das Herz wird froh, der Leib gesund. then the heart will be merry, the body healthy.
The verse on the left reads: Hoch lebe die edle Bierbrauerei.
( Long live the noble occupation of beer brewing.) The verse on the right reads: Hopfen u. Malz, Gott erhalt’s. ( Hops and malt, may God preserve them.) And in fine print below: Nachbildung gesetzl.verboten. ( Reproduction strictly (legally) forbidden (patented, copyrighted).) The scene on the rear under the handle, shown to the right, depicts the brewer with his wife at leisure.
Courtesy of the Erste Gruppe Chapter of SCI |
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The stein is made
of porcelain which is translucent (transmits light) and allows for the inclusion in the base of a lithophane
so you can see a picture (made by varying the thickness of the porcelain) in the bottom when you have finished
drinking the contents. This lithophane, shown on the right, has a scene of two young
ladies reading a letter presumably from a young man off in the military. The same stein bodies with lithophanes
were decorated for military, occupational and many other types of steins.