Beer is the world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. Beer is an important part of Bavarian life and culture and it is also the subject of a special competition at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools.

This international beer commercial competition has attained cult status in its short four-year history. The König Ludwig Trophy is presented for the 5th time this year! To celebrate this anniversary let’s have a closer look at the Trophy and at beer!
.

König Ludwig Bier

The Trophy

“Drinking Beer Is Fun”

The König Ludwig Trophy was initiated in 2005 by His Royal Highness Luitpold Prince of Bavaria, whose brewery, König Ludwig Schloßbrauerei Kaltenberg, has long been a generous supporter of the festival. This special competition asks film students around the world to shoot commercials for König Ludwig beers. The makers of the best commercials are invited to the festival and the winner takes home € 10,000.

Prince Luitpold: “The idea is that you come up with something nifty for our traditional beer brands. The best way to do that is to try them, enjoy them, and let your imagination go wild.” The commercials shouldn’t be too sober. “In Bavaria brewing beer is serious business. But drinking beer is fun.” The ideas should be amusing and original.

.

Beer – A Noble Tradition

“His Royal Highness’ Beer”

His Royal Highness Luitpold Prince of Bavaria is the great-grandchild of Bavaria’s last King, Ludwig III. His family – the Wittelsbachers – has a long tradition in brewing beer. The first royal brewery was founded in 1260 by Duke ‘Ludwig dem Strengen’ (Ludwig The Strict) in Munich. The Wittelsbachers then set up altogether 70 breweries. For many years, breweries were the most important source of income for the Bavarian government.

In 1516 Duke Wilhelm IV adopted the ‘Reinheitsgebot‘ – the purity law – which is the basis of the worldwide fame of Bavarian beer. Since 1906 it is applied in all Germany. It is perhaps the oldest existing food regulation. The law prohibits any other ingredients in beer except hops, barley malt and water. Yeast was allowed later. The law has since been updated to reflect modern trends in beer brewing. To this day, the law is considered a milestone.

a statue of King Ludwig I at Odeonsplatz in Munich

The world also owes the Oktoberfest to the Wittelsbach Family. It took place for the first time on the occasion of the marriage of the young crown prince, Ludwig I, and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen on October 12th, 1810 on the Theresienwiese. This fest lasting several days and open to the public was such a big success that it became a yearly event.

During the summer brewing was forbidden for safety reasons. An ample supply of beer had to be produced and stored in cellars, cooled by blocks of ice and the shade of chestnut trees. Brewers started selling beer directly to customers and positioned tables and chairs underneath the trees. That’s how Bavaria’s famous beer garden culture started. Despite the protests by innkeepers, King Ludwig I gave the breweries the right to sell beer directly – but only beer. To this day, you can still bring your own food to a beer garden, although nowadays you can buy it there as well.

Beer University: In the 19th century König Ludwig II founded the “Polytechnical School” in Munich including the “Royal Bavarian Academy for Agriculture and Brewing”. In 1865 the first students were trained in beer brewing.

Interested in the winning commercials of the past few years? Want to know more about beer? Find recipes with beer? Or download a Kaltenberg screensaver… Visit the Koenig Ludwig Beer homepage!: www.koenig-ludwig-brauerei.com