Prof. Ludwig Narziss (93), often referred to as “Beer Pope”, “Grandmaster of Brewery and Beverage Technology” or “Grand Seigneur of Brewing Arts” will be awarded The Bavarian Order Of Merit. On Monday, 22 July 2019, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder will award the Bavarian Order to outstanding personalities at a ceremony at the Munich Residence, a historic building which served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918.
"The Bavarian Order of Merit is a very exclusive award. Only 2,000 living persons are allowed to wear it. With it we honor the diverse commitment of great people who make Bayern unique. Well-known athletes, artists and scientists are the ambassadors of Bavaria far beyond the country's borders," Söder was quoted in an official media release ahead of the event.
According to The Oxford Companion to Beer, Prof. Ludwig Narziss “is one of the world’s most renowned brewing scientists and educators of the 20th century. He was born in Munich in 1925 and during most of his working life, for nearly 3 decades, was a leading authority in his field at the Weihenstephan Center of Life and Food Science in Freising, outside Munich.
Often called the Harvard of beer, the school, part of the Technical University of Munich, is closely tied to the Bavarian state-owned brewery with which it shares its name. Following an apprenticeship at the Tucher Brewery in Nuremberg, Narziss arrived at Weihenstephan as a student in 1948. There, he received degrees in brewing science and engineering and later completed a doctorate, writing a thesis on the influence of different yeast strains on beer quality.
In 1958, he became the brewmaster at Munich’s Löwenbräu Brewery. But Weihenstephan didn’t let Narziss stray for long. Only 6 years later he joined the faculty at Weihenstephan, taking over the chair of Brewing Technology I.
While instructing students in the science of beer making and conducting research on methods in Weihenstephan’s test brewery, Professor Narziss at times also served as the school’s dean, once from 1968 to 1970 and again in 1990. He also made time available to be a council member of the European Brewery Convention, as well as the organization’s president from 1979 to 1983.
Narziss has authored and co-authored literally hundreds of papers as well as three seminal text books, Abriss der Bierbrauerei (An Outline of Beer Brewing) in 1972, Die Technologie der Malzbereitung (Technology of Malt Preparation) in 1976, and Die Technologie der Würzebereitung (Technology of Wort Preparation) in 1985. These books have gone through many revisions and editions and are still used as standard student textbooks today.
Professor Narziss retired from Weihenstephan in 1992. He still lives in Freising and serves as Professor Emeritus at his venerable alma mater.”
Prof. Narziss has already received numerous awards. Amongst others are the
Bavarian Beer Order (1979), the Federal Cross of Merit with Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (2007), and the Golden Citizen Medal of the City of Freising (2018).
He is also honorary member of many clubs and organizations including, inter alia, German Brewing and Malting Association (DBMB), Research and Training Institute for Brewing in Berlin (VLB), Association of Weihenstephan Brewers' Department Alumni (VeW), Old Weihenstephan Brewers' Association (AWB)and Scientific Station for Brewery in Munich.
