Beer hall

A beer hall (Bierpalast, Bierhalle) is a large pub that specializes in beer.

Germany


Beer halls are a traditional part of Bavarian culture, and feature prominently in Oktoberfest. Bosch notes that the beer halls of Oktoberfest, known in German as Festzelte, are more properly termed "beer tents", as they are large, temporary structures built in the open air. In Munich alone, the Festzelte of Oktoberfest can accommodate over 100,000 people.

Bavaria's capital Munich is the city most associated with beer halls; almost every brewery in Munich operates a beer hall. The largest beer hall, the 5,000-seat Mathäser, near the Munich central station, has been converted into a movie theater.

The Bürgerbräukeller in Munich lent its name to the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, an attempted Nazi coup led by Adolf Hitler.

United States
American beer halls became popular in the mid-19th century, following a wave of immigration from Germany to the United States. They became an alternative to the American-style tavern.

St. Louis, Missouri is home to a number of beer halls, some of which seat several hundred persons. Hofbräuhaus has eight franchised beer halls in the United States.

The Loerzel Beer Hall was built around 1873 in Saugerties, Ulster County, New York, and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It is currently an apartment building.

German brewers who immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin built "hundreds of distinctive taverns and beer halls", and also built and established large outdoor beer gardens.