A brewery on the grounds of the former castle of the Dukes of Racibórz, with a brewing tradition going back to the early 16th century, open to visitors.
The Castle Brewery (Browar Zamkowy) in Racibórz stands on the grounds of the former castle of the Dukes of Racibórz, at Zamkowa 2. It is one of the oldest working breweries in Poland: beer has been brewed by the castle since the early 16th century, although the present plant was built in the 19th century after a fire.
The oldest written mentions of brewing in Racibórz date from 1293 and appear in a legal opinion given to the town by a councillor and jurors from Świdnica. A year later Duke Przemysław granted the town the right of the banal mile: within a mile of the walls only the townspeople of Racibórz could brew and sell beer. The settlement at Racibórz had held the right of market and tavern trade even before its charter, as sources from 1217 confirm.
The first unambiguous mention of a ducal brewery by the castle comes from 1567, from the land register of the ducal chamber. The brewery was probably established in the early 16th century, after the chamber's economy was reorganised. Large-scale production at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries is evidenced by its own hop plantation and two vaulted beer cellars in the castle undercroft.
On 19 January 1858 a fire broke out in the brewery and spread to the castle buildings. Rebuilding began quickly, but on a new footing: the brewery was built from scratch on the site of the northern and part of the western wing of the ducal castle and was fitted with a steam engine. About 40 years later the plant was thoroughly rebuilt.
In 1898 the brewery began brewing beer in the Pilsner style, which won it recognition in many Polish and foreign cities. This was owed to its own cultivation and cleaning of barley, water from its own springs in Obora brought by a wooden pipeline over a distance of 6 km, hops from Hallertau or Žatec, and three months of secondary fermentation in wooden vats in the cool castle cellars.
A few years before the Second World War only the castle brewery was still brewing beer in Racibórz, although at the end of the 19th century there had been nine breweries here. After the war the plant resumed brewing on 15 June 1945, and the first beer went on sale on 15 September of that year. In 1953 it was merged into the works in Głubczyce. From 1957 the plant was modernised: oak vats were replaced by metal tanks, and in the adjoining malthouse in 1962 a fire-heated system was replaced by a steam one for the first time in Poland.
In 1999 Browary Górnośląskie (Upper Silesian Breweries) declared bankruptcy and the plant in Racibórz was closed. The disused brewery was bought in 2003 by a businessman from Sosnowiec, and after renovation the plant started up again in 2004 as Browar Książęcy Racibórz (Racibórz Ducal Brewery). After a break in production the brewery was revived in 2010 under its present name, Browar Zamkowy.
The brewery is open to visitors, and the operator's website has a “Zwiedzanie browaru” (brewery tour) tab and sells entry tickets online. The website requires confirmation that you are of legal age. Details of the tour programme are best confirmed with the operator.
The brewery stands on the site of a wing of Racibórz Castle, so it is worth combining a visit with a look at the castle chapel and a walk along the Oder embankments. Close by is also the Racibórz Municipal Museum.
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