Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(5):563-571

Ten chimneys of the Benešov brewery and malt house. The chimney as a symbol or as a functional part of the operation?

Michal Horáček

Fakulta stavební ČVUT v Praze

When one hears the word "brewery", the image of a furnace chimney most often comes to mind. Furnace chimneys are among the most specific solitaire structures of factory chimneys, not only through their ending but also due to their unique method of location and functionality. Breweries, however, are buildings in which we can find a number of other factory chimneys of all types, sizes, and uses. These, in combination with the furnace chimney, have become a typical part of brewing complexes in the industrial period.
This paper presents a case study which served as a subject of interest in the brewery and brewery complex in Benešov. The company originally formed as an independent malt house which was partially transformed into a brewery after a few years of operation. Later, another brewery was set up close by which partly used some of its premises. Even later, a separate new building for a third brewery was set up in the vicinity of the malt house, and the malt house was subsequently expanded back to its original size.
Thanks to the complicated development of the brewery and the malt house, we can gradually count up to ten factory chimneys that served for longer or shorter periods for various production areas, including one entirely unique case. The paper connects the general aspect of the study of the development of factory chimneys in our country and their specific application in the individual sections of brewing and malting operations. At the same time, it reflects on the role of chimneys as part of the industrial complexes and the reflection of their operation over a long-term period of transformation.
From the original separate malt house, there have been preserved two furnace chimneys. One is still functional and has been repeatedly rebuilt to its present form from the 1950's, while the second has been preserved in its torso as it looked in the 1980's. The chimney over the former boiler room was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. A unique chimney above the boiler room of a pair of older breweries built temporarily and partly in the malt house existed for only about 25 years. It was created by using the flue channel of one of the canceled furnaces of the time and by breaking a new opening in the vault and a low chimney terminal.
After the establishment of a new brewery in 1897, the complex gained a new dominant position in the form of a high factory chimney above its boiler room. This remained in operation until 1924, when it was replaced by a modern and taller chimney for the ever-increasing demands on capacity and draft. This has remained in operation until today.
The original boiling room of the brewery with direct heating had a combustion exhaust leading from the furnace which was designed with a pair of chimneys passing through the peak of the roof above the boiling room. After 1915, it was removed with the transition to indirect steam heating. The last two factory chimneys in the complex were related to the construction of a pair of machine barrel cleaning facilities. Both chimneys were later removed, the newer one after the definitive abandonment of the use of wooden barrels in the brewery.
Of the ten factory chimneys in the brewery and malt house premises, there are only three of them today, two of which are still used for their original operation. The loss of seven chimney structures associated with the operation of the brewery and malt house combined with the survival of a pair of chimneys is a matter of concern as to whether chimneys, as part of a functional industrial structure, are more of a witness to its development and history and should be preserved as such, or whether they are witness to their operational modernization and will logically change and disappear along with how operations are changing and modernizing. The answer to this question seems to be somewhere in the middle. The fact remains that since 1872, the brewery and malt house with their chimneys have been symbols of the city of Benešov, which has changed its vertical character many times but has lost nothing of its expression or function.

Keywords: brewery, malt house, factory chimney, industry, history, Benešov

Published: December 1, 2017  Show citation