Einbeck

Einbeck grew in the Leine valley beside the Ilme, where a market settlement and the collegiate church of Saint Alexander came together behind walls and a moat. The town received a charter in 1252 and expanded under the dukes of Grubenhagen. Its timber-framed houses and churches belonged to a prosperous community of merchants and brewers.

Einbeck's beer was exported by 1351, and after the town joined the Hanseatic League in 1368 its market reached cities from Antwerp to Riga. Brewing took place in houses entitled to produce beer, under the supervision of the town council. Wide arched doors admitted the movable brewing pan. The beer's reputation reached Munich, where its name helped give rise to the term Bock for a strong style of beer.