those suffering from lung diseases, women who have recently given birth, breastfeeding mothers and convalescents of all kinds". The brewery sent Otto von Bismarck a container of Blume des Elsterthales on his birthday and advertised the beer with his praise. In 1896 the brewery had a capacity of 40,000 hl (1,056,688.2 gallons) and produced 25,000 hl (660,430.13 gallons) of beer annually, of which 12,000 hl (317,006.46 gallons) was black beer. Between 1906 and 1908 Zersch had a new brick company building erected in Köstritz. After the Second World War, the brewery was nationalized in October 1948 and traded as VEB Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei from November 25 of the same year. In the German Democratic Republic, the Köstritzer brewery was one of the few companies that produced beers for export. The beer was exported to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1956 to 1976, then to all of Eastern Europe until reunification. The brewery was completely rebuilt between 1979 and 1990. In April 1991, Bitburger Holding took over 100% of the business. From 1991 to 1993, the brewery was extensively modernized. In 1993, the company established "Köstritzer Schwarzbier" as its significant brand on the German market. The brewery increased its total output more than six-fold between 1991 (145,000 hl/ 3,830,494.76 gal) and 2005 (879,000 hl/ 23,220,723.4). To this day, Köstritzer has a 30 percent market share in Germany for dark bottom-fermented beers. Present Day Köstritzer produces the following types of beer: Schwarzbier (4.8% ABV) Kranich-Bräu Edel-Pils Diät-Pils Bibop (a mixture of cola and beer) Witbier Pale Ale Kellerbier Notes Anna von Sydow (Hrsg.): Wilhelm und Caroline von Humboldt in ihren Briefen: Reife Seelen. Briefe von 1820–1835, Zeller, 1968, S. 183. ↑ Wilhelm von Humboldt im Verkehr mit seinen Freunden im Projekt Gutenberg-DE ↑ Wilhelm von Humboldt: . Jazzybee Verlag, Altenmünster 2012, ISBN 978-3-8496-3865-8, S. 238 (eingeschränkte Vorschau in der Google-Buchsuche [retrieved 20 July 2017]). ↑ Hochspringen nach:a b Werbeanzeige in: Veröffentlichungen des Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamtes. Band 17, J. Springer, 1893, S. 32. ↑ Fritz Regel: Thüringen. Ein geographisches Handbuch, Band 3, Jena 1896, S. 154. ↑ Hochspringen nach:a b Dürener Kreiszeitung, 25 July 2011 Wirtschaftsteil, S. 21. ↑ Super-Illu 13 February 2013. ↑ gera.otz.de/Wirtschaft ↑ Heinrich Voß: "Es muss überraschen" – Anforderungen an Biermixe steigen, Getränkefachgrosshandel, 4, 2009, S. 12. External links Official homepage of the brewery Official website of Bibop beer Breweries in Germany Beer brands of Germany 1543 establishments in the