The claim
Austria's largest beer hall fills the old friary at Mülln, where monks began brewing in 1621. Drinkers still take a stone mug from the rack and have it filled from a wooden barrel, then collect food from market-style stalls and settle in vaulted halls or a vast shaded garden with around 1,400 seats. A true Salzburg institution.
What the records show
Augustinian hermits from Munich took over the house at Mülln in 1605 and founded the brewery in 1621, selling their beer first at the friary gate and later through inns bought for the purpose — so drink was sold on these premises from the start. The Augustinians died out in Salzburg in 1818, the buildings served as barracks, and in 1835 the Emperor Ferdinand I passed them to the Benedictines of Michaelbeuern, who hold half the brewing company still. The trade has not been unbroken: the serving of beer was forbidden in 1940 and the business had to stop altogether in 1944, resuming after the war. The present brewhouse dates from 1912, and the whole friary ensemble is a protected monument.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1621 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| 1621 | First record of a drinking house here | ANNO, Austrian National Library |
What to look for inside
- Founded 1621 by Augustinian friars
- Self-service stone mugs filled from wooden casks
- Austria's largest beer hall, about 5,000 m² indoors
- Beer garden with around 1,400 seats
- A brewing trade paper of 1889 records the tap room and the verse the prior wrote for its wall
Visiting
Augustiner Bräu Kloster Mülln is in Salzburg, Austria, at Lindhofstraße 7, 5020 Salzburg (Kloster Mülln). We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- www.augustinerbier.at/
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies
- de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustiner_Br%C3%A4u_Kloster_M%C3%BClln
- anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=gbh&datum=18890401&seite=24
- anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?aid=slk&datum=1885&page=54
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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