Franz Hess Establishes the Brewery That Becomes Sünner

In 1830, Franz Hess established the small house brewery Zum Schiffgen on Deutzer Freiheit in Deutz, across the Rhine from Cologne. The business combined a brewery with a distillery, tavern, and restaurant. Its location near the Rhine crossing brought travelers and other customers to the establishment. After Franz Hess and his wife died without children, Hess’s brother-in-law Christian Sünner took over the brewery around 1846 and continued operating it with his four sons. The business later moved its production to Kalk and developed into the Sünner brewery. Its continuous history makes it the oldest surviving brewery associated with Kölsch, although the pale beer later known by that name did not emerge until the twentieth century.