The story
Founded by Theodor König in 1858.1
Theodor König was born in 1825 at Üppenhagen (known today as Selm-Cappenberg); in 1858, he opened a brewery in the country district of Beeck which, at that time, did not yet form part of the city of Duisburg. He brewed lager in the Pilsener style, despite the fact that this bottom-fermented style of beer was relatively unpopular at the time. First records of König Pilsener appear in 1911. At first, König Pilsener was known for its bitter hoppiness; later, the beer was adapted to the requirements of a premium lager intended for mass consumption.
On 1 February 2000, König Brewery became a subsidiary of the Holsten Group; this group was then sold to Denmark's Carlsberg in 2004. Carlsberg broke up the Holsten Group, selling the König and Licher breweries to Bitburger.
From Wikipedia’s article on König Brewery, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4