Private company

Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu

Logo: https://www.samson.cz/, Non-free logo, via Wikipedia3

Czech beer brewery in České Budějovice

Pivovar Samson a.s., formerly known as Bürgerliches Brauhaus Budweis is a brewery founded by mostly German-speaking burghers of the city of České Budějovice (known as Budweis in German) in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire in 1795. Its beer was known as Budweiser Bier or Budweiser Bürgerbräu since 1802 and as trademark officially since 1899. In 1894, the official company name was "Die Budweiser Bräuberechtigten - Bürgerliches Bräuhaus-Gegründet 1795 - Budweis".2 It is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1795Founded1
  • HeadquartersČeské Budějovice1
  • Legal formakciová společnost1
Pivovar Samson
Photo: JAn Dudík, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Pivovar Samson a.s., formerly known as Bürgerliches Brauhaus Budweis is a brewery founded by mostly German-speaking burghers of the city of České Budějovice (known as Budweis in German) in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire in 1795. Its beer was known as Budweiser Bier or Budweiser Bürgerbräu since 1802 and as trademark officially since 1899. In 1894, the official company name was "Die Budweiser Bräuberechtigten - Bürgerliches Bräuhaus-Gegründet 1795 - Budweis". In 2023, the brewery has been losing tens of millions of CZK annually for about 30 years in a row.2

Corporate structure

Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu is part of a group headed by Anheuser-Busch InBev. 72 entities, 29 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

As early as 1875, beer from Budějovice was being exported to the United States. In 1876 Anheuser-Busch started selling beer named Budweiser inspired by the original Budweiser beer. In 1895, when Budweiser Bürgerbräu became official court supplier to the King of Württemberg, the growing Czech population founded local competition as a joint stock company, today called Budějovický Budvar. In the Budweiser trademark dispute, the three companies divided the rights to use the name, with the Europe-based companies giving up the Northern American rights to Budweiser.

Shortly before World War I Budějovický Budvar exceeded production of Bürgerliches Brauhaus. During World War II 237 out of 387 owners of Bürgerliches Brauhaus were Germans, while 150 were Czechs. In January 1945, Bürgerliches Brauhaus stopped brewing and in March 1945 the brewery was damaged during US bombing of Budějovice. After WWII most Germans were expelled and both Budějovice breweries were nationalized in 1948 by the communist government. The German-sounding names of the Bürgerbräu company and its products were renamed "Crystal" or "Samson". Accordingly in 1960 and 1989 the company was renamed "První budějovický pivovar Samson" (First Budweiser brewery Samson).

After the fall of communism, the company owned rights to "Crystal", "Czech Beer Crystal", "Biere Tcheque Crystal" and "Samson", but in 1991 reacquired national naming rights and international Protected Geographical Indication to "Budějovický měšťanský pivovar" and "Budweiser Bürgerbräu", and in 1993 to "Budějovické pivo", "Budweiser Bier", "Biere de Budweis" and "Budweis Beer".

In July 2001, the company was renamed Budějovický měšťanský pivovar a.s. (Budweiser Burghers' brewery), which corresponded with the original German name. The company used German naming like "Budweiser Bier" also in Czech and English, also stating that the hops comes from the "Czech city of Saaz", the German name for the Czech city of Žatec, known for Saaz hops.

Since 2005, due to the legal situation, the brewery offered its beer in the USA as "B.B. Bürgerbräu", described as "Budweis City Bier" rather than "Budweiser beer". In 2014 Anheuser-Busch InBev bought the brewery and renamed it to Samson.

From Wikipedia’s article on Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Board members and other officers (1)

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 2011Acquired Acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev1
  2. 1795Founded Founded1