BEER PRODUCTION IN GALICIA (middle XIXth – the first third of XXth century)

Abstract

ummary. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive research of beer production in Galicia. Historical approaches to statistical interpretation of events and phenomena, mathematical methods of modeling were used to achieve the goal. The research methodology is an organic set of basic principles of historical research: historicism, objectivity, comprehensiveness, continuity and appropriate methods of scientific research. Various methods of cognition are used in the article: historiographical analysis and synthesis, historical, problem-chronological, statistical, comparative. The scientific novelty lies in the complex analysis of beer production in certain administrative-territorial entities of Austria. Conclusions. In the middle of the XIX century there were over 300 primitive breweries. Until 1856, their number decreased by a third at a stable output. From 1857 to 1865, the number of breweries increased from 263 to 313, and the output increased by 2.8 times. After 10 years, the number of breweries decreased, there has been a tendency towards consolidation of enterprises. From 1876 to 1907, the number of breweries decreased by 2.5 times. In 1885 – 1900, beer production has doubled (to 1155 thousand hcl). The growth of taxes was proportional to the output. The beginning of the XX century was marked by the inhibition of the growth of brewery production. In 1901 – 1907, beer production increased by 20%, taxes – by 38%. In the 1920's on 41 Galician's brewery were produced more than 100 million liters of beer. Since the mid-1930s, the number of breweries has decreased to 34, a third of which was concentrated in the Lviv voivodship. During the 1930's, breweries produced 500 – 600 thousand hcl of various beers annually. Thus, from the middle of the XIX century until the beginning of the Second World War, the number of brewery decreased by 7 times. At the same time, the output of finished products has grown fourfold, the amount of taxes paid - by ten times.The breweries of Galicia had a 10% of Austria's business enterprises but produced only 5% of the country's brewing industry. More than 40% of all Austrian breweries were in the Czech Republic, which produced more than 42% of products. The share of Galicia in the total amount of Austrian brewery was 4.1-4.3%, and the total amount of beer produced was 4-5.25%. The opposite trend was observed in providing beer per capita. In Galicia, this rate was 0.2 buckets (2.5 liters) per person. For example, in Salzburg, three buckets of beer per one inhabitant, 2-2.5 in the Upper and Lower Austria, 1.6 in the Czech Republic. At the turn of the century, more than 20 million hectares of beer were produced in Austria, of which only 5.75% in Galicia. This rate was the fourth after the Czech Republic (46.1%), Lower Austria (18.7%) and Moravia (10.22%). The same place Galicia also occupied by the number of breweries. Gross output did not reflect the real state of brewing in the region. The average productivity of the brewery in Galicia was 9.8 thousand hcl, which was one of the lowest indicators in the state. One brewery in Lower Austria produced 59.4, the Austrian Littoral – more than 30.5 thousand hcl of beer. For the production of beer per capita (15 liters) Galicia occupied one of the last places, ahead of only Kraina and the Austrian Littoral. Beer production in Salzburg, the Czech Republic and Lower Austria was highest per capita (1.21 hcl).