Bottle

The beer bottle was found in the cellar of one of the townhouses on Panieńska Street in Szczecin, which had collapsed during war-time bombardment. It was discovered during archaeological works carried out there in 1996, supervised by the Archaeological and Monument Conservation Laboratory in Szczecin. The artefact was made by the Union Brauerei Stettin –  - one of nine breweries operating in Szczecin at that time, established in 1912 at Pölitzerstrasse 39/40 (today Aleja Wyzwolenia) . The growth of the brewery was stifled by the outbreak of World War I. At that time not only the quantity, but also the quality of produced beer went down, and some of the brewery’s equipment – copper brewing vats and pipes – was appropriated for the war effort. The brewery did not manage to survive the new post-war reality and the economic crisis that came in its wake. In 1920 it was taken over by the Ferdinand Rückforth Nachfolger A.G. company, which expanded its beer offering with liqueurs and wines. The brewery operated until 1943 – it was shut down when the first Allied air raids hit the city.

Anna Lew-Machniak