Magdeburg

I got around a fair bit in the DDR. I went to most of the major cities: Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt and Halle. And lots of not so big ones, though those were mostly limited to Thuringia.

The one big city I never visited - and have still never been to - was Magdeburg. Not unless you count passing through it on a train. Which is as close as I ever got. The train didn't even stop, as it was travelling from West Germany to West Berlin. No chance of getting off until Bahnhof Zoo.

I never even drank any beer from a brewery there. Which is a shame as I really like some of the labels.

Diamant Brauerei Magdeburg

A change of pace today. I'm still up to my eyebrows in Scottish beer. But I thought I'd offer you a little relief from it. Witj some DDR labels.

There's something about DDR label design I just love. Not sure why. Partially nostalgia, I guess. For those fun days of the DDR. Oddly, I seem to be the only person who considered East Berlin a holiday paradise. But what else can you call somewhere beer is dirt cheap and you have more money than you can spend? It's so weird looking back. Weird that a walled city seemd somehow normal.

I wish I'd collected more labels at the time. I only have a handful though I know I drank dozens of different beers, mostly from Berlin, Sachsen and Thüringen.

But I digress. I'm supposed to be banging out a quick post of little more than some pretty beer labels. Labels from the Diamant Brauerei in Magdeburg. I never drank any of their beer that I can recall. Never been to Magdeburg, other than passing through it on the train to Berlin.

Brilliant ended up as part of Brau und Brunnen and closed in 1994. It's since re-opened as a museum and brewpub in part of the old premises.


Diamant Brauhaus
Alte Diamant Brauerei 21,
39124 Magdeburg.
http://www.diamant-brauhaus.de/
kontakt@diamant-brauhaus.de