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Pub Visit - Germany

Zum Posterer 1Sunday 13th April 2014

Bob Thompson

Here I am back in Windischeschenbach again exactly one week later than my previous visit. As before, I am spending the night at the Hotel Oberpfalzer Hof which sells Zoigl beer from the town’s commune brewery (Kommunebrauerei) but its bar is not open on Sunday (today) after lunchtime. After settling in I walk around the corner to my first destination, Zum Posterer.

This Zoigl house is in a former post office. In this context I think it was more of a sorting office where mail was received and then delivered. Prior to 1865 it was a private house that had brewing rights at the brewery. In those days there was a lot of brewing going on. 83 persons were permitted to receive beer from the Kommunbrauerei, 52 houses either sold it or consumed it privately and 31 people actually did the brewing.

It had a small tower on the roof where there was bell. A watchman was based here as it was almost the highest property in the town. Here he looked out over the town for fires. He rang the bell and blew a bugle when one was spotted. It is worth remembering that in those days most of the buildings were wooden; they were later rebuilt, mostly in stone. This situation continued until 1913 when I believe the house was sold for private use. The Post moved to another location.

Zum Posterer 2Its career as a Zoigl house is relatively new and its modern history begins in 1968 when it was purchased by the Zimmermann family. The ancient rights were exercised in 2004 and it began selling beer. The house is operated by Günter Zimmermann and his wife Manuela. He is of the next generation of the family. It proved very popular and in 2005 it was extended to the upper floor. This is the only Zoigl house I have come across where no there is no accommodation, nobody lives here any more, and it is just an occasional beer outlet.

I have visited this pub once before and I don’t recollect that it was on two levels, so I guess I went there not long after it opened. I went up the outside stairs and the main room was on my right. It is quite small and was crowded. I sat near the basic service area and looked around. The decor is in a sort of country kitchen style with lots of old wooden furniture.

Zum Posterer 3I went upstairs for a look around and it was a lot less crowded. There are several small rooms furnished in the same manner. The beer dispense looked more like one you would find in a pub yet there is no bar counter. There are some old picture-framing tools decorating the walls of one room. This was another trade carried on in this building in the past.

I liked the Zoigl beer very much, but after all it was the first of the day. To be honest, it is a style that doesn’t vary a lot, even from village to village; although a regular Zoigl drinker will certainly be able to tell you the subtle differences between the houses. I don’t remember seeing any food but I’m sure they have a menu of all the local favourites.

This is another pleasant Zoigl house amongst the ever-changing calendar of watering holes in this town.

Important Information:

Zum Posterer, An der Alten Post 5, 92670 Windischeshenbach. Tel: 09681 918088

Open: Friday-Monday 14.00-23.00 on advertised weekends only. See www.zoiglbier.de

Buses to Windischeschenbach are infrequent and usually run only Mondays to Fridays.

The pub is around twenty minutes walk from the station, which is served by trains of the Vogtlandbahn Co. They operate about every hour Monday to Friday, and two-hourly on Saturday and Sunday.

The station is on the line from Regensburg to Marktredwitz via Schwandorf and Weiden.