Tyskie Brewing Museum

Tyskie Browarium, officially the Museum of the Tyskie Princely Breweries, is a brewing museum inside a working brewery in Tychy, where beer has been brewed without interruption for almost 400 years. The exhibition fills a restored former Protestant church from 1902 and tells the brewery's story in ten episodes. A visit combines easily with a brewhouse tour and a tasting.

History of the Tychy brewery

The first mention of brewing in Tychy dates from 1613, and the brewery's official founding year is 1629, when the estate register noted that beer was brewed weekly on the manor farm, bringing "considerable profit". The owners were the barons of the Promnitz family. After a decline in the 18th century the brewery passed to Prince Hans Heinrich XI von Hochberg of Pszczyna (Pless) – his title gave it the name "Princely Breweries". From 1861 the prince expanded the plant, introduced electricity and a railway, and the brewer he hired, Julius Müller, began brewing a golden bottom-fermented lager.

In 1897 the brewery produced 10 million litres of beer for the first time and was then among the largest in Europe. After the plebiscite Tychy became part of Poland, but in 1939 the plant came under Third Reich administration and brewed beer for the Wehrmacht. The retreating Germans mined the brewery but never set off the charges. A year after the war it was nationalised and the crown disappeared from the labels – it returned only in 1982. Today the brewery belongs to Kompania Piwowarska.

What to see

The museum opened in 2004 and until 2010 was called the Tyskie Brewing Museum. The exhibition is multimedia and interactive:

• a corridor built of 11,000 bottles leading to a glass dome – the heart of the museum,
• a cinema room with a ceiling made of kegs,
• ten episodes of history: the brewery's beginnings, 19th-century expansion, conquering European markets, the 300th anniversary, the Second World War and nationalisation,
• famous advertising campaigns and awards for the Tyskie brand.

The museum visit takes about 45 minutes. Separately you can book a guided brewery tour: a route of up to 60 minutes or an extended one of up to 90 minutes. The brewery has the oldest working brewhouse, whose interior has remained almost unchanged since 1905.

Tripto tips

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 12:00–19:00; brewery tours run Tuesday to Sunday 12:00–20:00. A museum ticket costs PLN 24 (reduced PLN 10); no guide or booking is needed, and visitors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The brewery tour costs PLN 50 (reduced PLN 45), the extended tour PLN 60 / 55, plus PLN 15 in another language. Brewery tours must be booked and are open only to visitors aged 18 and over. The brewery is at ul. Katowicka 9 in Tychy, about 20 km south of Katowice. Finish at the Pub pod Browarem, or visit the Hochberg castle in Pszczyna – home of the brewery's former owners.