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 manufactured in a pre-war brewery run by Gustav Krämer, who in addition to selling beer also ran a beer warehouse and a mineral water factory since 1903. As a reputable wholesaler he worked as a sales representative for numerous breweries in Szczecin, including Schultheiss-Patzenhofen, Koestritzer, Engelhardt, and Berliner Schlossbrauerei. The beer he made was available in special bottles with embossed inscriptions advertising his company. Along with porcelain stoppers and labels, these bottles soon became the brewery’s hallmark. Initially, the brewery was located at Alte Falkenwalderstrasse 11 (currently Aleja Wojska Polskiego) and since 1941 at Deutsche Strasse 12 (currently Wielkopolska Street). Its operations were halted in 1943 by the first Allied air raids on Szczecin.

Anna Lew-Machniak