Earlier we often saw brewery plates hanging on the wall of bars and cafes, but now it is mostly private persons who collect brewery plates.
Carlsberg
Carlsberg is the largest brewery in Denmark and one of the largest in the world. It started out back in the 19th Century. The brewer J. C. Jacobsen established the brewery Carlsberg in 1847 in Valby outside Copenhagen.
The name is a combination of the name of Jacobsen's son Carl and the German word for mountain. From the beginning
Carlsberg brewed bavarian beer instead of small beer, which was the common type of beer in Denmark at the time.
Carlsberg quickly became a success and in 1871 the son Carl Jacobsen established New Carlsberg in the annex factory of
Carlsberg. Because of disagreements about the quality of the beer J. C. Jacobsen and Carl Jacobsen broke with each other and New Carlsberg moved to another location. The breweries were not reunited untill 1906 19 years after the death of J. C. Jacobsen.
Carlsberg established the Carlsberg Laboratories in 1875 to improve the quality of the beer and improve the knowledge of its chemistry. This led to the development of the yeast type that is still used in the brewing of pilsner around the world.
In 1903 Carlsberg reached a settlement with the United Breweries led by Tuborg that contained a clause enabling the merger of the companies before the year 2000. This was activated in 1970 afterwhich they became one company.
Carlsberg experienced much growth in the second half of the 20th Century and is by far the largest brewery in Denmark and among the four largest breweries in the world.
Tuborg
The Factories of Tuborg were build in 1873 in Hellerup and the first beer was brewed in 1875. The construction was done
in extension of the construction of the Harbor of Tuborg that was build between 1869-1872. The initiative for the company came from industrialist Philip W. Heyman, who got other industrialists like C. F. Tietgen involved in the project.
The name Tuborg fittingly stems from the name of a pub build by the brewer Jonas Thue in the 1690's.
Tuborg was innovative in marketing and developed many iconic commercials like the Tuborg parasol and "The Thirsty Man"
that became cultural icons.
Tuborg became part of The United Breweries in 1894 and Tuborg became the dominant member and thus the main competitor of Carlsberg that dominated the market. in 1903 a settlement was made with Carlsberg to stabilise the market. The settlement
contained a clause that made a merger of the companies possible until the year 2000. This clause was activated in 1970, when the companies merged to one company.
Tuborg has together with Carlsberg been the dominant Danish beer for more than a century. The production on the Factories of Tuborg ended in 1996 and the area was made into a new quater. Both Carlsberg and Tuborg are now brewed at the larger brewery in Fredericia.
The United Breweries
The United Breweries was a collection of smaller breweries in Copenhagen that were unified in 1891 under the guidance of C. F. Tietgen. Tuborg participated in the union from 1894 and was the dominant member.
In 1903 a settlement was made with Carlsberg that was the largest of the Breweries in Copenhagen about a collaboration between the united Breweries and Carlsberg to stabilise the market. The settlement contained the option of a fusion until the year 2000.
This option was put into use in 1970, when Carlsberg and the United Breweries were fusioned into a single company. Originally
the name was the United Breweries, but from 1987 the name became Carlsberg A/S as this name was more internationally recognised.
Albani
The Albani brewery was founded in Odense in 1859 by Theodor Schiøtz.
Albani was the first large industrial business in Odense.
Stjernen
The brewery "Stjernen" was a Danish brewery established in 1902 on Frederiksberg and closed again in 1964.
The brewery was a workers brewery that was established with capital from the worker's bakery and supported by the brewery workers in Copenhagen. The idea was that the workers should drink beer from a brewery that they owned themselves.
The brewery had its best years in the 20's and 30's, when it was the third largest brewery in the kingdom. After the war sales
continued to fall until it had to close in 1964. Afterwards the the beer labels were bought by Carlsberg.
The brewery is most known for Star Pilsner.
Aluminia brewery Plates
The Aluminia Faience Factory published many plates to commemorate the Danish Breweries. In the beginning many of the plates hung primarily in serving establishments and pubs, but later the Aluminia Plates were dedicated collectors' items, which are hanging on the wall in people's homes. In contrast to most of the other plates the Aluminia brewery plates are usually not round, they have other shapes such as oval or square.
Aluminia brewery plates are produced in faience and have motifs from great Danish Breweries, such as Tuborg Brewery, United Breweries, Albani and Carlsberg Brewery, but also many smaller breweries such as Phoenix Brewery, Nykøbing Brewery, Slagelse Brewery, Odense Castle Brewery, brewery Thor in Randers, brewery Funen Faaborg and Thisted Brewery.