The name is not the only curiosity about the Brauhaus horror chamber. We are pleased to introduce you to this traditional and extraordinary brewery.
First, the special name must be clarified. The brewery does not have a ghost train in the back yard and to date there are no known ghosts causing mischief in the brewhouse. So where does this unusual name come from? There are two theories for finding a name. One explanation goes back to the neighborhood of the brewery: opposite the brewery there used to be the Fränkisch-Märkische Eisenbahn's teaching facility. The space in the institution was limited, so the exams of the future railway workers were partially outsourced. The examinees took their exam over at the brewery. An excellent place for such hardships: beer is a miracle cure for jittery nerves and helped even if you messed up the exam. According to legend, one day a new state inspector walked into the brewery and asked the innkeeper, “Where is the Chamber of Horrors?” By this he meant the testing room and at the same time invented a strange name for the brewery. The second theory is a little darker: The brewery is located between the former courthouse and the execution site where criminals were hanged in the Dark Ages. The brewery served the damned their last meal and may have been called the Chamber of Horrors for this reason. Nowadays no one is executed in Cologne and the trainees' candidates are put through their paces elsewhere, but the name has stuck.
The Schockskammer brewery was first mentioned as a brewery in 1487. At that time, brewing was already taking place at this location, but under a different name. To date, the brewery has undergone countless changes of ownership and was even destroyed in the Second World War. After the reconstruction, brewing continued and continues to this day. The hobbyhorse of the chamber of horrors is Kölsch . The brewery has its own house recipe that is passed down from generation to generation of brewers. A special feature of this recipe is that the brewers do not add any carbon dioxide. The result is a gentle beer with a soft aroma, character and taste. Tradition is very important in the Chamber of Horrors, and you can tell that when you enter the inn. The rustic atmosphere invites you to linger, the delicate smell of food permeates the air and the oak floorboards crunch underfoot. Crunch? A look at the ground confirms the crunching and raises the question: Why is there sand here? Sand is the traditional means of maintaining untreated oak floors. The fine grains scrub the wood and extend its lifespan through their cleaning and hardening properties. That's why there's sand here.
