Gambrinus

Catalog No. 1375

Pottery, relief, 1.0L, pewter lid.
Edition: 2,500

Text:
“Gambrinus werde ich genannt, König von Flandern und Babrant.
Ich habe aus Gerste Malz gemacht und zuerst das Bier erdacht.
Drumm können die Brauer mit Stolz bekunden,
daß ein König es war, der das Bier erfunden.”
(I am called Gambrinus, King of Flanders and Babrant.
I make malt from barley and invented beer first.
Therefore the brewers can announce with pride,
that it was a king who invented beer.)

Gambrinus, “the king of beer”, has long been a universal symbol of beer and brewing. It has been suggested that the character may be drawn from the claimed real-life inventor of hopped malt beer, Jan Primus (Johann I), a 13th-century Belgian Duke and President of the Brussels Guild of Brewers.