Jakobmayer: From the brewery to the cultural center

Created: 01/04/2023, 16:00

By: Alexandra Anderka

The Jakobmayer before 1899. The inn burned down in 1910 and was rebuilt in Art Nouveau style.

© Günter Janocha

PUBLIC CALENDAR The history workshop in Dorfen illuminates twelve breweries and inns

Dorfen – The Jakobmayer was one of the six long-established breweries and inns in Dorfen.

In 1717, a Jakobe Mayrin was mentioned as an innkeeper and brewer, which is probably where the name Jakobmayer comes from, as the history workshop has researched for its tavern calendar for 2023.

The local newspaper publishes one of these Dorfen tavern stories every month.

In 1904 the Bachmayer brewery in Dorfen acquired the property.

Only a few years later, in 1910, the "Dorfen Beer War" broke out.

In protest against a beer price increase of two pfennigs, angry citizens set fire to several restaurants, including the Jakobmayer.

It burned down completely, but was rebuilt in Art Nouveau style in less than a year.

For several decades, the inn, especially the hall on the first floor, was the center of social and cultural life in the villages.

To the delight and surprise of many Dorfen residents, Jakobmayer still exists today, even if it no longer has its own brewery.

The inn was no longer managed from 2000 to 2011.

There was even debate about breaking it off.

The hall was empty from 1964 to 2011, partly used by Jehovah's Witnesses.

The city bought the building in 2002 and had it renovated in 2009.

In 2011 the new Jakobmayer was opened.

Since then, the Jakobmayer has once again been a privately run restaurant with an event hall and cinema.

At the same time as the Jakobmayer restoration, the “Village is colorful” alliance discovered that around 400 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust were living as displaced persons in Dorfen in the post-war years.

Its center was the Jakobmayer.

After the Jewish DPs left, the Jakobmayer was used for social and cultural events until 1964, which is still the case today.

Thanks to cultural manager Birgitt Binder, the Jakobmayer has established itself as a Bavarian cabaret and cabaret institution in the ten years of its existence.

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Tavern story(s):

The history workshop in Dorfen has published an inn calendar with historical photos of traditional inns in the town of Dorfen.

The local newspaper publishes one of these Dorfen tavern stories every month.