Little Munich

It wasn’t until the second wave of German immigrants arrived in the 1840s that the tap really began to flow in Lancaster. Escaping the faltering German economy after the Napoleonic Wars suddenly became a boon to our own with their expertise in brewing.

Breweries cropped up all around the county, and by 1873 the Lancaster Board of Trade reported that Lancaster County had 14 breweries that employed 80 workers, housed 40 horses, and produced 775,000 gallons of beer per year.

Lancaster, in particular, was home to four prolific breweries – Wacker Eagle Brewery, Sprenger Excelsior Brewery, Haefner Empire Brewery, and Rieker Star Brewery.

With vaults deep under city streets and brewhouses that towered several stories over them, beer became big business in Lancaster, earning the city the nickname, "Little Munich."

The Eagle Hotel at the corner of West Walnut and Water Streets in Lancaster was part of the Wacker Brewery complex, one of the largest in the city. Wacker was particularly known for their Little Dutch and Old Bohemian beers.

Lancaster's German breweries thrived during the turn-of-the-century. In this 1890s photograph, employees load up the wagons at Haefner’s Empire Brewery on Locust Street in Lancaster.

Before the advent of refrigeration, local breweries used vaults deep under the city’s streets to keep their beer cool. Later, chilled storage areas like this one at Rieker’s Star Brewery were used.

These four big breweries managed to survive Prohibition in the 1920s, mostly by making cereal beverages or soft drinks or engaging in other business endeavors. In this Prohibition-era photograph, empty barrels in the racking room at Rieker’s Star Brewery await ale that will never come.

The polished copper 175 barrel brew kettle was once the centerpiece of Rieker’s Star Brewery. It sits dry and empty thanks to Prohibition in this 1925 photograph.

Unfortunately, after Prohibition, Lancaster's breweries couldn’t compete with the larger, nationally known breweries. Many closed in the mid-20th cenutry.

In 1905, the Sprenger Brewery on South Lime Street was producing 60,000 barrels of beer each year. By 1964, when this photograph was taken, Sprenger had been out of production for nearly 15 years.

Wacker was the last to close in 1956 after 100 years in business. But, the Wacker brand has recently seen a tasty new revival in Lancaster – perhaps proving that as long as there will be taverns in the county, there will be beer.