Germany: Wolters brewery to close down after four centuries in business

German brewery Wolters, founded in 1627 in Brunswick, is shutting down after demand slumped, and some 90 employees have been told their jobs are at risk, The Brussels Times reported on September 29.

The closure underlines a broader fall in beer consumption that is being felt beyond Belgium and across Germany.

Brunswick Mayor Thorsten Kornblum called the shutdown “extremely painful.”

Wolters filed for insolvency earlier this year, citing declining sales, and efforts to find a buyer were unsuccessful.

Germany’s beer market has recorded its sharpest annual decline since reunification in 1990, according to federal statistics published in February. Sales fell by 6% last year, dropping below 80 million hectolitres.

The NGG trade union criticised the short period between the insolvency proceedings and the decision to close the brewery. “From the outside, the process looks more like an emergency stop than an orderly restructuring,” the union said.

The insolvency administrator said efforts were continuing to preserve the Wolters brand.

The Brunswick site’s managing director said the decision had been “inevitable.”

Several breweries in Germany have closed in recent years as beer consumption has continued to decline.

30 September, 2026