Starting from zero

After the war, in what would become the DDR, the brewing industry faced some serious problems. Ones which the western part of Germany didn't have. These were caused by a combination of the division of Germany and the loss of territories to the East. 

The biggest of these problems were:

• no hop growing
• limited malting barley cultivation
• uneven distribution of breweries
• no brewing equipment manufacturers

The first two were agricultural problems, which needed to be addressed by encouraging the cultivation of hops and malting barley. The former had been exclusively grown in western parts of Germany. While much malt had been sourced either from the northern parts of West Germany or territory which now belonged to Poland.

Before the war, breweries in West Berlin had supplied much of the area around Berlin. With the country divided, new sources of beer needed to be found. Especially as the breweries in East Berlin didn't have the capacity to pick up the slack. One of the long-term solutions was to construct a large brewery in Potsdam, just outside Berlin.

It wasn't until the 1960s that the manufacture of brewing equipment really got underway. Even then, it could never produce enough to meet demand. I can understand now why many breweries were still using outdated equipment. It wasn't through laziness or a reluctance to invest. There just wasn't enough equipment available for everyone. And certain breweries - notably exporters like Radeberger and Wernesgrüner - got first dibs on the goodies.

People often bang on about the economic miracle of post-war West Germany. What the DDR achieved is far more impressive. It started from a much worse position. And, unlike West Germany, didn't have Marshall Plan money poured into it. Quite the opposite, with the Soviets actively removing industry and raw materials from the East.

This information is taken from Die Brau- und Malzindustrie in Deutschland-Ost zwischen 1945 und 1989, VLB, 2016, page 103.