The Brewery Later Known as Schlenkerla Is Founded

In 1678, the brewery that later became known as Schlenkerla was established in Bamberg. The property on Dominikanerstraße had been documented earlier as the “House of the Blue Lion,” but records from 1678 identify the brewhouse as an independent property with its own brewing and serving rights. The surviving sources name both Martin Bachalt and Jakob Schneider in connection with the brewery’s beginnings, so its precise founder remains uncertain. The brewery later became Hellerbräu and eventually acquired the popular name Schlenkerla through the Graser family. It preserved the traditional Bamberg practice of drying malt over an open wood fire even after smoke-free kilns became widespread. Together with Brauerei Spezial, Schlenkerla became one of the principal custodians of Bamberg Rauchbier and its distinctive smoked-malt tradition.