The people
The people of this area are fond of their Bavarian traditions and historic customs. They are also very creative and innovative, and are great team players. They are people with both feet firmly planted on the ground, with a talent for hard work and a clear sense of responsibility.
The economy
Once dominated by the porcelain industry, these days the regional economy is increasingly characterised by up-and-coming production and service companies from many different sectors.
The beer-brewing custom
An old and very special custom of the people of Falkenberg is still alive and flourishing to this day: The brewing of Falkenberg’s own “Zoigl”-beer! The name ”Zoigl” is a Bavarian dialect word that signifies a sign or notice. This sign or shield with a bluish white star and a beer mug or a spruce branch would be hung at the door of a house 500 years ago, and down to the present, to show that home-brewed “Zoigl” beer was available there. The right to brew and with it, of course, the right to serve beer was already common in the 13th and 14th centuries in the Upper Palatinate – the area to the north of Regensburg – as part and parcel of the issuing of municipal and market rights to citizens. To be granted this right, however, a citizen had to have property and a house of his own. Ever greater numbers of communities established their own so-called community breweries - in Falkenberg, too, where a brewery was established below the historic castle. It is here that the citizens brew their own Zoigl beer to this day. As a business partner of IGZ, you are also cordially invited to try this local elixir, the “Zoigl” brew.
