With a groundbreaking ceremony construction works for Carlsberg’s new Holstenplant have started. The new brewery, which will be operational in spring 2019, will cover an area of 67,000 square meters and will be logistically very well situated in the industrial estate Hausbruch in Hamburg’s southern suburb of Harburg. The beer production capacity will be cut by one third from currently 1.5 million hectoliters at the old site in Altona to 1.0 million at the new site.
According to Carlsberg-Germany head Sebastian Holtz, the previous site is no longer suited for industrial use. Because of shrinking beer sales the production costs in Altona are 50 percent higher than in other Carlsberg breweries across Europe.
Holsten started brewing at the site in Altona in 1879, nearly 140 years ago. What used to be a separate town is nowadays an urban borough of Hamburg with skyrocketing prices for real estate. The real estate developing company Gerch-Group, which bought the former industrial site of 86,500 square meters from Carlsberg last year, intends to spend €750 million in a new residential area with 1,500 homes.
The administration of Carlsberg Germany and Holsten with currently about 200 people employed will remain at the old location as well as the old brewhouse and the so called Juliusturm, a tower with the Holsten emblem. The brewery also plans to build a small microbrewery with a beer museum as a reminiscence to the long brewing tradition in Altona.
70 of the 450 employees in Altona will be laid off. Representatives of the Food, Beverages and Catering Industry Trade Union (NGG) protested against this measure, stating that the new site was not suited for the brewery because limited space would not allow for a future extension of the brewing operations.
Two years after inauguration of Paulaner's new brewery in Munich (inside.beer, 2.6.2017), the new Holsten brewery in Hamburg will be the next major new brewery construction in Germany.
