In 1907, there was a war over beer in Bamberg, a lovely city in Upper Franconia.
Bamberg, home to 70.000 residents, can also boast of eight breweries. In a way, this is not too surprising as I once read that Upper Franconia alone has 300 of the nationwide 1300 breweries.
Another noteworthy superlative – Franconia has the highest density of breweries worldwide.
Back to the Bamberger Bierkrieg – one day in 1907, the local breweries decided to raise the price for 0.5 L (1/2 quart) by 1 Pfennig (from 10 to 11 Pfennig)
Karl Panzer, a local book-keeper, inspired the two inn-keepers, Georg Weierich and Anton Mohr, to go on strike. Instead of selling the more expensive local beer, these two offered the lower-priced one, available from another town called Forchheim.
This beer sold really well and after one week only, the Bamberg breweries had to give in and retract their price hike. The beer went back to 10 Pfennig for 1/2 L again.
If there is more you want to know about German beer in general, see Beer Guide Germany.