Johann Mathias Schumacher Acquires the Im Sonnenaufgang Brewery

In 1838, trained brewer Johann Mathias Schumacher purchased the Im Sonnenaufgang brewery at Citadellstraße 12 in Düsseldorf’s Carlstadt district. He acquired the brewery and its equipment from Carl Joseph Kürten, establishing the business lineage now represented by Brauerei Schumacher. Schumacher continued Düsseldorf’s older top-fermented brewing tradition while developing a more strongly hopped beer that was matured in cool conditions. This approach contributed to the emergence of the modern Düsseldorf Altbier tradition, but it did not amount to the sudden invention of top-fermented beer or Altbier as an entirely new style. Schumacher is nevertheless commonly credited as the first Düsseldorf brewery to use the name “Altbier” to distinguish the region’s older top-fermenting method from the increasingly dominant bottom-fermented lager tradition. The precise date of this naming practice is not securely documented. Brauerei Schumacher remains Düsseldorf’s oldest operating house brewery and an important link between the city’s older brewing practices and modern Altbier.