Beer and the Birth of Gambrinus
By Moira E. Harris

When the ancient Greek gods sat down to dine, wine was in their goblets, served by Hebe, promoted by Bacchus, consumed to excess by Dionysus. In the Greek heaven there was no beer and thus no god to serve as its patron. Despite beer's antiquity, it would be centuries before patron saints, icons, or even persons of "noble rank and title," as in Gilbert & Sullivan's song, would become symbols of the brewers' art. Medieval abbeys, which grew their own food and made their own drinks, were among the earliest locales for brewing beer. Early abbots would become known for their brewing skills and later be designated as "patron saints of beer." Among these religious patrons were St. Arnould of Soissons (1040-87), Arnould of Metz (580-640), Amand de Maastricht, St. Leonard de Nollare, Boniface de Mayenne, St. Augustine, and Florian de Lorch. Each served as patron and protector of brewers in a different region, but none became as universal a symbol as Bacchus was for wine.

In the nineteenth century when brewers both in Europe and America began calling a certain Gambrinus "first brewer, patron saint, or even king of the brewing trade," the question arose as to just who this person was: mythological, historical, or totally a creature of some writer's imagination? The answer is a choice: Gambrinus can be either a mythical German or an actual Belgian, or even a combination of both. It all depends. Those who prefer Gambrinus to be German turn to the Roman writer Tacitus who wrote about early tribesmen called "Gambriviens." Others described twelve early kings of what is now Germany and one of those was "Gambrivius." In an effort to link this ruler with the history of brewing, it was argued that he learned the secrets of beermaking in Egypt from the gods Isis and Osiris and took this knowledge to Europe. Thus, in this version of the story, Gambrinus introduced the beverage, but did not invent it. By the sixteenth century the idea of a Beer King was accepted in Germany.

He was mentioned in songs and poems by such writers as the Meistersinger Hans Sachs of Nuremberg. Even a painting of the monarch himself supposedly graced the wall of the Stendal brewery in Magdeburg in 1526. (The painting is now located in the Brewers' Museum in Munich.) In the upper lefthand corner of the painting was a poem which reads: Im Leben ward ich Gambrinus genannt, Konig zu Flandern and Brabant. Ich hab aus Gersten Malz gemacht and Bierbrauen zuerst gedackt. Drum konnen die Brauer sagen, dass sie einen Konig zum Meister haben.[In life I was called Gambrinus, King of Flanders and Brabant. I first made malt out of hops and taught brewers how to do this. So brewers can say that they had a King for a Master.]

Philippe Voluer, curator of the European beer museum (Musee Europeen de la Biere) in Stenay France, suggests that the idea of Gambrinus may well relate to the art of the Carnival. Mardi Gras and Fasching parades before Lent were often ruled by royals and what would be more appropriate a monarch than a Beer King? He could wear a crown, carry a scepter, but his throne would be a barrel to make clear that he was neither a saint or a secular ruler. A book on carnivals in Belgium illustrated two giant puppets identified as Gambrinus and his wife participating in a Zottegem carnival in the 1940s and there are probably many other examples of Gambrinus in parades. For others, Gambrinus really lived and they cite the story of John I, duke of Brabant (1251-1294). Known as "Jean le Premier" in French or "Jan Primus" in Flemish, he is linked by his name and his life to the concept of a beer icon. His family ruled Brabant, Lotharingia, and Limburg, territories in the center of what would later become Belgium. Jan Primus was an active knight, poet, and ruler eager to defend and expand his lands.

His most famous victory was in the Battle of Woeringen (1288) in which his armies defeated those of the Archbishop of Cologne, and the Dukes of Luxemburg and Gueldre. He thus secured trade routes for Brabant goods, including malt, from the Rhine to the Meuse rivers. Before his German triumph, according to one source, Jan Primes decided to visit a friend at the Oudenburg abbey in Geraardsbergen, near Ghent in Flanders. There everyone celebrated with the monks' good beer under the watchful eyes of a statue of the brewers' patron saint, St. Arnould, who had died at the abbey in 1087. One monk-the brewing monkand a minstrel friend of the duke's became so delighted with the significance of the duke's visit they decided to write "Janprimus cerevisaerex" [Gambrinus, King of Beer] on the wall beneath the statue of St. Arnould. Although the next morning Jan Primes declared that he could not be known as both a king and a duke, everyone else said it was certainly possible to remain the Duke of Brabant as well as becoming Gambrinus the King of Beer. And so it was and has been ever since.

Jan Primes was known as a consumer of beer which Van Noordhoven emphasizes was unusual. Dukes, kings, even gods were supposed to drink wine. A duke who appreciated the qualities of the Brabant and Flanders brews, preferring them to wine, was certainly a fine candidate for King of Beer. On one occasion Jan Primes is supposed to have climbed atop a heap of barrels and hailed members of the brewers' guild, who in response named him as their patron. The often used image of the King of Beer, seated astride a barrel with a goblet raised in his hand, may be inspired by this moment in Jan Primes' life. What one could not achieve in battle was sometimes possible by marriage and in this regard his son (Jan II) married the daughter of King Edward I of England. After their marriage in London, the bridal couple set forth to their new home, a castle in northern France. It was quite a trip. The entourage of 110 knights on horseback was accompanied by wagons filled with the liquid jewels (or beers) of the Brabant kingdom: the topaze of Iambic, the beryl of hoppe, the ruby of roetbier and the onyx of swartbier.

When they arrived in Bar-le-Duc, Jan Primus recognized on the tournament grounds a knight he had not fought before and so a challenge was quickly issued. In their first clash with lances, Jan Primus' horse was killed and his opponent was knocked out of his saddle. Fighting next on foot with swords, Jan Primus knocked the plumes from his adversary's helmet. Thinking that he had won, Jan Primus turned to leave. His opponent called to ask why Jan Primus had had assistance. When Jan Primus raised the visor of his helmet to look, he received a mortal blow. His opponent then said that the purported helper was none other than the good beer of Brabant Jan Primus had consumed enroute. Jan Primus' body was brought to Brussels for burial next to that of his wife in front of the altar of the abbey church of the Franciscans, built in 1238. That church was destroyed in the sixteenth century and then rebuilt in 1626, with a new tombstone placed over the grave of Jan Primus. The church was damaged again in the French siege of Brussels in 1695, a bombardment that also wrecked the city's famous Grand-Place. Later the Butter Market would be held on the grounds where the church had once stood. Still later the Belgian Stock Exchange would be built next to the abbey's former grounds.

In 1988, archaeologists from the Free University of Brussels, led by Madeleine Le Bon, discovered the remains of the walls surrounding Jan Primus' tomb underneath the street alongside the Stock Exchange. A museum, Bruxella 1238, now allows visitors to view the work done by the archaeologists in discovering the location of Jan Primus' tomb. A short walk away, in the Grand-Place, stands the Maison des Ducs de Brabant - a bust of Jan Primus is second on the left on its facade - and the brewers' guildhall, the "Maison des Brasseurs". Both of these buildings were built after the French attack of 1695 had destroyed earlier structures. Songs and poetry continued to celebrate the idea of Gambrinus until the nineteenth century when artists helped breweries find a place for him in their newly needed publicity. Just as American breweries turned to colorful labels, lithographed posters, and advertisements once they began exporting their beers beyond their local territories, the same situation took place in Europe.

But before turning to Gambrinus in the world of advertising, note should be made of one charming example of Gambrinus in literature. Its author, Charles Deulin (1827-77) came from a small town in northern France. In his book Comes d'un buveur de Mere (Tales of a Beer Drinker) Deulin gives his interpretation of the Gambrinus story. His hero, "Cambrinus" as Deulin called him, was a handsome apprentice glassblower in love with his master's daughter, the fair Flandrine. She ignores him and, after various misadventures, he is ready to hang himself when the Devil appears and offers him the usual bargain: a gift in exchange for Cambrinus' soul. Cambrinus wants revenge over the townsfolk who have scorned him so the Devil shows him two things to build: a carillon of magic bells and a brewery. Cambrinus builds both which become great successes. The townspeople dance to the music of the bells and drink constantly. Soon other towns establish their own carillons, breweries, and bars, but the beer of Fresnes sur l'Escaut (Cambrinus' home) remains the best. In thanks, the King of the Netherlands names Cambrinus duke of Brabant and count of Flanders, but Cambrinus says he prefers to be called "King of Beer."

When the thirty years of the Devil's bargain end, an emissary is sent to claim Cambrinus' soul, but he, too, is enchanted by the music of the bells and the produce of Cambrinus' brewery -the faro, Iambic, porter, and stout - and never returns to Hell. Cambrinus lives on, reaching almost one hundred years. Then the Devil tries again to reclaim his soul and discovers that in its place is only a barrel of beer. But, wrote Deulin, perhaps the Devil did have his revenge for only Germans remember Gambrinus as "one is never a prophet in one's own country."

Gambrinus is, of course, well known in Europe. In the collections of the Another location for images of Gambrinus was in brasseries or bar-restaurants which sold beer. John Carteret-Grand surveyed the art of such establishments in France, Germany, and Switzerland in his Raphael et Gambrinus. L'Art dans la Brasserie (1886). Germany was obviously a major locale for Gambrinal art; Carteret Grand describes with admiration the grisaille (colorless) fresco of Gambrinus painted by Ferdinand Wagner for the Rathskeller on the main floor of Munich's new Town Hall (Neues Rathaus, built between 1867-1908). In Switzerland and Alsace, he found either paintings on wood or chromolithographs of Gambrinus in many brasseries. In Paris artists had long decorated brasseries-with cats, clowns, and caricatures-but what Carteret-Grand calls "the Gambrinus invasion" came as a result of the two Paris worlds' fairs, held in 1867 and 1878. Beers from Vienna and Munich were then introduced to Parisian beer drinkers and the King of Beer was suddenly able to expand his realm of artistic influence. At the Taverne Montmartre, Carteret-Grand especially liked a ceramic plaque of Gambrinus, but he considered a work in Lyon to be the finest.

To decorate one of their restaurants, the Hofherr firm of Lyon hired an artist who had already done murals in local theatres. Domer completed two paintings for the Hofherrs: "The Triumph of Bacchus" and "The Triumph of Gambrinus." He depicted Gambrinus riding a dappled gray horse, escorted by a young page and preceded by two young women and a trumpeter. Naturally, Gambrinus was provided with an overflowing goblet to quench his thirst while riding. Bars, restaurants, and even hotels still use the Gambrinus name. The Swiss Federation of Brewers was able to list over thirty establishments in their country today which are named for "Gambrinus." In Germany, a train called the Gambrinus runs from Hamburg to Munich. In Switzerland and in Belgium, collector groups are named in his honor. Harder to discover are the breweries which may have had statues, paintings, or stained glass windows showing Gambrinus, or the malt houses which may have had a Gambrinus figure atop their towers. The Hurlimann brewery of Zurich retains a terra cotta sculpture of a seated Gambrinus.

In the Czech Republic, the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Pilsen has a handsome portrait of Gambrinus on display. Others may well have possessed interesting examples of Gambrinus in art, but as breweries closed such works are not always preserved. European breweries which today name one of their beers "Gambrinus" can be found from Denmark (Hancock in Jutland) to the Czech Republic (Pilsner Urquell of which the Gambrinus Brewery is now part), by way of Belgium, the Netherlands (Alt) and Luxemburg (Battin). Unlike the earlier Gambrinus labels which showed the King astride his barrel or seated in his throne, today's label designers seem to prefer just his name in stylized script.

But perhaps the most contrasting usages remain those of two Belgian breweries. For the Haacht Brewery in Boortmeerbeek near Louvain (the city where Jan Primus was born in the castle on Mont Cesar) the Duke of Brabant is seen as a Knight; he rides to battle or a jousting tournament on their Primus beer label. The Cantillon Brewery of Anderlecht (in south Brussels) selected another wellknown aspect of his fife. For their label he is shown off-duty, relaxing in the company of a voluptuous blonde Rose who is perched on his lap. This is Gambrinus the poet who is still remembered for his odes to the ladies. Both labels and breweries thus celebrate Jan Primus, or John the First, whose life and deeds have been perpetuated in Gambrinus breweriana both in his own country and throughout the rest of the beer-drinking world.

Article reprinted with the permission of The American Breweriana Journal.
Moira F Harris is the author of The paws of refreshment - the Story of Hamm's Beer Advertising, Louise's Legacy - Hamm's Family Stories and other books. She is a frequent contributor to the journal.