Today is the birthday of Conrad Binding (December 23, 1846-December 17, 1933). He was a German brewer, entrepreneur and sponsor, and founded the Binding brewery in 1870. “After 1919 the Actien brewery Homburg vd Hoehe was transferred to the Binding brewery, which merged in 1921 with the Hofbierbrauerei Schöfferhof from Mainz and the Frankfurter Bürgerbrauerei to form the Schöfferhof-Binding-Bürgerbräu AG. In 1939, the first barrel of the “Römer Pils” brand, which is still well known today, was tapped. The brewery was 70 percent destroyed in an air raid during World War II. The brewery has belonged to the Oetker Group since 1952.” After the reunification of Germany, they acquired several more breweries in the former East Germany, including Radeberger Pils, and for a time it was known as the Binding Brauerei or Binding Group, but was later renamed the Radeberger Group.
This is part of his biography, translated from German Wikipedia:
Conrad Binding came from a family of bakers. His great-grandfather, Johann Peter Binding (1735-1804) immigrated from Reichelsheim to the Free City of Frankfurt and received Frankfurt citizenship due to his marriage to the master baker’s daughter Sibylla Catharina Becker (1746-1782) . Their son, Johann Lorenz Binding (1776-1856) ran a bakery in the house at Fahrgasse 17 as a master baker and became wealthy. From his marriage to Maria Dorothea Schäfer (1783-1834) came 14 children, including Conrad Binding’s father, Daniel Binding (1810-1883), who took over his father’s bakery. His older brother Eduard Binding (1810-1869) received a doctorate in law, the younger brother Theodor (1820-1892) Müller in Versbach near Würzburg, Emil (1822-1893) wine merchant, Carl (1823-1860) private owner and Ferdinand (1813-1870) operator of the Café du Grand Balcon on the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris.
After returning [from studying brewing and internships in other parts of Germany], he explored the Frankfurt beer market. There were 30 breweries in the city. The brewery founded by Ernst Ehrenfried Glock in 1860 was in financial difficulties. Binding succeeded in acquiring the Glocksche brewery on 1 August 1870 for 84,000 guilders (equivalent to about 144,000 marks after the currency reform of 1875). In addition to the brewery at Garküchenplatz 7 with the “Stadt Schwalbach” inn, he acquired a rock cellar at Darmstädter Landstraße 163 with inventory for 20,000 guilders. He financed the founding of the company with 11,000 guilders from his mother’s inheritance and borrowing.
The business benefited directly from the interruption in the supply of Munich beer as a result of the Franco-Prussian War . The subsequent founding years ensured further growth. In the Frankfurt beer riot of 1873, Binding got away with a small loss of 400 guilders and benefited indirectly from the far larger losses of some competitors. In 1874 he received a loan of 42,000 marks from his father, which he used to expand his business.
The brewing market had changed significantly. The small breweries largely disappeared, the brewery joint stock companies founded from the early days achieved ever larger market shares. Binding also decided to convert the sole proprietorship into a stock corporation . This was founded on May 16, 1885. Binding contributed his company shares, which were valued at 3.2 million marks, and became chairman of the board. In 1895 he moved to the head of the supervisory board. During his time as CEO, beer output had doubled from 86,983 to 167,207 hectoliters.
Binding gradually withdrew from the company and also reduced his shareholding. In 1899 he founded a brewery in Essen . The Brauhaus Essen expanded until the First World War , but then suffered from the wartime economy and was sold in 1918/19.
Inflation hit Binding Brewery hard. With the involvement of the Bank für Brau-Industrie , this merged in 1921 with the Hofbierbrauerei Schöfferhof from Mainz and the Frankfurter Bürgerbrauerei to form the Schöfferhof-Binding-Bürgerbräu AG. Conrad Binding retired from the company and lived privately until his death.
And this history is from a Frankfurt online news service, translated by Google:
For the 1st. August 1870 Conrad Binding (1846-1933) took over the small brewery Ehrenfried Glock on Garküchenplatz in the old town. The brewer’s career for Conrad Binding began as early as 1862. Against the advice of his father, who suggested that he study law, the young man began an apprenticeship as a brewer in Sachsenhausen.
As was customary at the time, Conrad Binding experienced his hiking years as a brewer in southern Germany, Austria and France. In 1869 he returned to his hometown to become self-employed in 1870.
The aspiring entrepreneur stayed in the narrow streets of the old town for only eleven years before building a beer factory on the other side of the Main in Sachsenhausen. Modern production and takeovers of smaller regional competitors have remained the constants in the company’s history for decades. The brother Carl Binding ( 1854-1925 ) joins the company; the one-man company becomes the “Binding’sche brewery company“ 1884.
The first bottled beer filling went into operation in 1905. The brewer’s name is stamped into the brown glass bottles, the variety name is on a neck label – as is the trademark, the eagle, and the note „ brewery filling “. Three years later, a sandstone relief Conrad Bindings as a representative of the brewer’s guild will be attached to the south building of the new town hall in Bethmannstrasse, which can still be seen today.
After the First World War, the Binding brewery, the Hofbierbrauerei Schöfferhof in Mainz and the Frankfurt Bürgerbrauerei merged to form „ Schöfferhof-Binding-Bürgerbräu AG “ in 1921. At the same time, the Johann Jakob Jung brewery is also taken over on Darmstadt’s Landstrasse. More larger breweries will follow.
On the occasion of his 85th. On his birthday, a street in Sachsenhausen was named after Conrad Binding in 1931. Shortly before the completion of his 87th. The master brewer dies on the 17th. December 1933 in his hometown. He is buried in the family grave in the main cemetery in Frankfurt.
The brewery was not spared the Second World War. The brewery on Sachsenhäuser Berg was badly damaged in the severe air raids on the city in 1944. The following years are then going up again. Since 1953 the Oetker Group took over the helm, numerous further acquisitions followed in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony.
The establishment of “Clausthaler“ as a national brand for non-alcoholic beer proved to be far-sighted more than 40 years ago. Initially smiled at, In times of falling consumption, the non-alcoholic beers have long since become hopefuls in the brewing industry. Together with the nationwide wheat beer brand Schöfferhofer, Clausthaler forms the economic backbone of the Binding company, which, however, is extremely reluctant to pay exact figures on sales, sales and profits of the individual brands.
Another major cut in the Frankfurt brewery market followed in 2001 with the takeover of the Henninger brewery. It has a much longer tradition: the nucleus was in 1655 when Eberhard Stein founded his brewery. In 1869 Heinrich Christian Henninger joined the Stein brewery. The small traditional brewery becomes a modern brewing company that moves into a new brewing facility in Sachsenhausen in 1875.
This history is from the company’s website, translated by Google:
Conrad Binding was born in Frankfurt am Main on December 23, 1846, the second of four sons of master baker Daniel Binding and his wife Sibylle, née Bieber.
Against the advice of his father, who suggested he study law, Conrad Binding began an apprenticeship as a brewer in 1862, with master cooper Raumer in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen.
Conrad Binding experienced years of travel as a journeyman beer brewer in southern Germany (Erlangen, Augsburg, Munich), Austria (Vienna-Schwechat) and France (Paris, Sèvres, Lyon, St. Pourcain, Tautonville, Chateauroux). In 1869 he returned to Frankfurt.
On August 1, 1870, Conrad Binding acquired the small Ehrenfried Glock brewery in Frankfurt’s old town at Garküchenplatz 7, with an output of 1,500 hectoliters, for 84,000 guilders. As a brewery owner, he is not only responsible for monitoring production, but also for sales.
Conrad Binding dares the step from a craft to an industrial company and builds a completely new, modern brewery on the Sachsenhausen hill in 1881. The brother Carl Binding (1854 – 1925) joins the company; The one-man company becomes the “Binding’sche Brauereigesellschaft” in 1885,
Conrad Binding becomes the first and Carl Binding the second board member of the newly founded stock corporation “Binding’sche Brauereigesellschaft”.
On January 28, 1902, the name day of Charlemagne, Binding Carolus Doppelbock is served for the first time.
The first bottling of beer goes into operation in 1905. The name of the brewery is embossed in the brown glass bottles, the type designation is on a neck label – as is the trademark, the eagle, and the note “Brauerei-Füllung”. For the first time, the light and dark lager and export beers are also advertised, always emphasizing their special quality.
A sandstone relief of Conrad Binding as a representative of the brewer’s guild is attached to the southern building of the newly built New Town Hall on Bethmannstrasse in 1908.
In 1921, the Binding brewery, the Hofbierbrauerei Schöfferhof and the Frankfurter Bürgerbrauerei merge to form “Schöfferhof-Binding-Bürgerbräu AG”. At the same time, the Johann Jakob Jung brewery on Darmstädter Landstraße is also taken over. The merger creates a strong company. Conrad Binding resigns from the supervisory board and retires to private life.
On the occasion of his 85th birthday, in 1931, a street in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen is named after Conrad Binding.
Conrad Binding died shortly before his 87th birthday on December 17, 1933, in his hometown. He is buried in the family grave in the Frankfurt main cemetery.
