The museum of Żywiec Brewery

Żywiec Brewery is one of the first and most famous in Poland, was founded in 1856. By Archduke Albrecht Fryderyk Habsburg. The museum of Żywiec Brewery was founded in 2006 to commemorate the 150th anniversary.

In 1857 Żywiec brewed brewery 17 856 hl of beer, and twelve years later doubled its production of 7 percent share has become the largest facility of 260 breweries operating in Galicja. With successively mounted devices such as sorting machine barley, filtering devices beer while bottling etc. Żywiec beer it was considered a very good quality and was popular.

To 1881 Brewery brewed exclusively lager beers both light and dark. The best popular beer called: Cesarskie, Eksportowe, Marcowe, Lagrowe or Bock. Zywiec brewery started production Porter - top-fermented beer in an English-style Double Stout. The first chief brewer Żywiec was Henry Bauer who hold this position until 1875. His successor was Julius Wagner, creator of the recipe Żywiec porter.

After the death of Archduke Albrecht in 1895. Brewery took his nephew Archduke Karl Stefan Habsburg, who even before World War One commissioned the construction of a second brewhouse and fermentation cellar and larger basement. Expansion of the railway network in Galicia and the creation of the brewery's own rolling stock contributed to the rapid transport of fresh beer Żywiec and his popularity at home and abroad.

Dying in 1933. Arcyks. Karl Stefan wrote brewery in his will to his son Charles Olbracht. At that time, the brewery produced five basic types of beer.

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Germany took Zywiec, changing its name to the German Saybusch. Archduke Charles was to sign a German nationality list of the so-called: Volksliste. As a colonel of the Polish Army and Polish patriot Archduke refused to sign the list. Before his death saved the Archduke intercession of King Swedish and Italian at the highest Nazi authorities. Charles Albert was thrown into prison, and the brewery was taken over by the Third Reich.

It received the official name Beskidenbrauerei Saybusch. Production at the brewery has been maintained, but the beer was intended mainly for the German army. The basic beer produced in the Zywiec was Saybuscher Quell similar composition to Zdroj Żywiecki. For the Army and police German also brewed light beer Beskiden-Gold and small amounts of porter, Ale and Export Dunkel. Although the retreating Nazi troops destroyed in almost all major objects, the brewery survived.

Immediately after the withdrawal of the troops of Nazi brewery took over the Red Army, and then it was taken over by the Treasury. From May 1945 brewery functioned as a state enterprise.

The beer became interested in the Polish emigrant from America Mr Lutom , who proposed its exports to the US. For this purpose, it was established in 1956, famous label pairs dancing in costumes of Krakow. The initiator of the development of a new brand of beer was Leon Rubin, head of Atalanta Corporation, which was confined to the US food. Rubin gave him the idea for the new beer also so called  Krakus Light Beer brewery in Zywiec exported to the United States for almost 20 years.

However, the socio-political changes in the early 80s led to a decline in production, sales and exports. At this time in Zywiec beer they produced Full Light, Piast, Krakus, Porter and Marcowe.

December 31, 1990 in Zywiec brewery was transformed into a company wholly owned by the Treasury and was named Plant Brewing in Żywiec S.A. In July 1992 the brewery has sold more than 70% of the shares in the public offering, thus leading to the privatization of the plant. At this time, the share brewery Żywiec beer market was 8%. 24 September 1991 r. Company debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in Warsaw.

In 1994, a major shareholder in the company Brewery Zywiec SA was the Dutch company Heineken International Beheer BV.