Lohengrin Beer Steins

"Lohengrin" Beer Steins

Stoneware influenced by the Richard Wagner opera from 1850

Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850, the story of the self-titled character was taken from the medieval German romance, the "Parzival " from Wolfram von Eschenbach, the sequel "Lohengrin" which was used by Wagner was in fact written by a different author who again was inspired by the french poems of "Garin le Loherain" and is part of the "Knight of the Swan" tradition.

The opera was an inspiration towards many works of art. Among those deeply moved bythe fairy-tale opera was the young King Ludwig II of Bavaria. "Der Märchenkönig" ("The Fairy-Tale King") was so highly impressed, that he built his world famous fairy-tale castle and called it "New Swan Stone" or "Neuschwanstein" after the Swan Knight epic. It was King Ludwig's patronage that also later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to build a theatre to compose and stage his epic cycle, "The Ring of the Nibelung".

Above are scenes from Lohengrin: The Battle with Telramund and the Royal Court.

Below are modern Westerwald Beer Stein examples of romantic scenes taken from the Richard Wagner opera:

King Limited Edition, replica of a original modelled around Year 1888, It features the Swan boat scene, Neuschwanstein Castle and a portrait of Ludwig II

Zoeller & Born Lohengrin Stein, 1,5 Liter, featuring the Swan Knight legend - Lohengrin, the "Holy Knight of the Grail" and his wife Elsa

Below you can see some original models from the so called "Golden Age" of collectable beer steins.
These steins first appeared in the Kannenbäckerland - Germany around the beginning of 1860.

This "Golden Age" period in the Westerwald endured till the outbreak of the first world war.

Merkelbach - Grenzhausen - Germany

A. Diesinger - Hoehr - Germany