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Three centuries of historybefore B & B Emperor BarbarossaThe remarkable story of a brewery that was established before 1704 in Groningen. In earlier days the river Aa was in open connection with the sea. In the Hanseatic city of Groningen, the ships were unloaded in the port at Der Aa. At low tide, they were unloaded on the opposite bank, the Soutketel. Therefore the quay of Der Aa is built higher than that at the Soutketel; hence the present-day names, the Hooge (High) and Lage (Low) der Aa. According to the deed, the heirs of J. Wilkens were selling their property, including a brewery, situated on its own ground in front of the fishing-banks at “der Aa” to the family Nauta. It was the year 1704. In 1763 the owner was Mr. Herman Dijk. He sold the brewery in 1770 to Mr. Coppius Metting van Bolhuis. More than half a century later, in 1832, the brewery, known now as the “Crowned Peacock”, was publicly auctioned. The 21-year old William Keizer became the new owner. In late 1869, when Keizer was 58 years old, he established a company with his cousin, Peter Mees: W. Keizer & Co. Three years later the company disbanded. Peter Mees continued with the brewery at No. 27 on the High Bank of Der Aa and took his family to live next-door, at No. 26. The beer brand increased its market share. People found that its taste made them thirsty, perhaps because of the (boiled) slightly salty water from the river Aa. In 1902 the sons of Pieter Mees, Hetserus and Bertus, took the “Crowned Peacock” brewery over from their father. Bertus went to live above the brewery at No. 27. By this time, coffee and tea drinks, now regarded as safe, were becoming increasingly popular, at the expense of the healthy and low alcohol-containing beer of the time. Small breweries were finding it difficult to cope alone and in 1906 the “Crowned Peacock” therefore merged with the Company Barbarossa brewery in the village of Helpman, near Groningen. This brewery was established in 1891 and was purchased in 1897 by the German brewers Kurt Joch and Fransz Steinweg N.V., whose trade name was Barbarossa. |
Detail from a map of Egbert Haubois, about 1635.The two breweries continued as the United Breweries Company Keizer Barbarossa (the point being that, in Dutch, Keizer means Emperor). After difficult times of war and intense competition, the Emperor Barbarossa merged in 1961 with the Oranjeboom (orange tree) Brewery and three other breweries and bottlers. In 1965 production was transferred to Rotterdam. In the 1970’s a long row of buildings on either side of Hooge der Aa No. 27 were in the hands of the non-food store Adriani. In the 1980’s the buildings were renovated and converted to homes and offices. In April 1985 the commercial and book printing office Joh. Wolff (est: 1925) and H. N. Werkman (est: 1907 as a craft business) have been located at Hoge der Aa 27. Since then the building has been engaged in graphic designing, printing and book publishing. A part of No. 27 is now used as the Bed & Breakfast Emperor (Keizer) Barbarossa. The building is coloured orange on the above c.1635 map of the property.  |
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