History
The brewery was founded in 1839 by both local German-speaking and Czech-speaking citizens as Bürgerbrauerei (citizens' brewery, later translated to Měšťanský pivovar in Czech). The first beer was brewed in 1842 by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll. In 1859, “Pilsner Bier” was registered as a brand name at the local Chamber of Commerce and Trade. In 1869, a competitor was founded as a joint stock company, later known as Gambrinus. In 1898 the Urquell (Prazdroj) trade mark was created, to underline the claim of being the older, original source of Pilsner beer. In 1918, when the Austrian Empire ceased to exist, Czechs took over control, and soon began renaming cities, companies and products alike to give them Czech-language names. In 1946, communists took over, nationalising the remaining two breweries, Měšťansky pivovar (the Citizens' brewery), and Plzeňské akciové pivovary (PAP, the stock company), merging them into the single Plzeňské pivovary (Pilsen breweries).
After the fall of communism in late 1989, the brewery was turned into a public share company, then renamed in 1994 after the Czech name of their famous beer, Plzeňský Prazdroj. In 1999, they started to merge with Pivovar Radegast a.s. and Pivovar Velké Popovice a. s..
The brewery has been part of the SABMiller group of companies (at the time South African Breweries) since 1999. It has been the largest exporter of beer produced in the Czech Republic since 2000 when production surpassed that of Budějovický Budvar.
Read more about this topic: Pilsner Urquell Brewery
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