Brewery marks 130th anniversary of birth of Ferdinand Porsche

Most people would recognise a Porsche on the street and some even the sound of a Porsche engine, but how many know the founder of the famous sports car company, Ferdinand Porsche, was born in Vratislavice, formerly known as Mattersdorf, a village in north Bohemia? This week Porsche aficionados will gather in the town - now a suburb of Liberec - to mark the 130th anniversary of Porsche's birth. As Jan Velinger reports, a local brewery has even produced special labels for its bottles to commemorate the event.

Ferdinand Porsche, photo: CTK

For a car lover there can be few sounds as rewarding as the big-cat purr of a genuine Porsche engine, especially if you're behind the wheel. Driving a Porsche, fans say, is the ultimate driving experience, from 0 to 60 in no time flat. In short, there's nothing quite like a Porsche in terms of engineering and design. Which is why Vratislavice, north Bohemia, has long recognised the company's founder, Sudeten German Ferdinand Porsche, as one of its most significant historic figures. This week fans and Porsche owners will gather in Vratislavice to show off antique as well as newer models, to test drive their cars through a few loops and afterwards to have a beer.

Earlier I spoke to Petr Hostas, master brewer at "Vratislavsky Konrad", the local brewer participating in some of the events: he told me about the new labels with the Porsche theme.

"The cars on the labels include designs by Porsche himself, cars which were extremely modern in terms of their look and performance. There is, for example, the 356 speedster, and also an early 911 so famous for its design. It'll be possible to get the specially-labelled bottles over about a month, but we expect that they'll be gone by either the end of September or mid-October at the latest."

Photo: CTK

That will make the bottles something of a collector's item. Petr Hostas agrees.

"Definitely, they'll enjoy them."

A few people may frown on the idea of a car pictured on the front of a beer bottle, but Mr Hostas rejects the notion anyone might misinterpret their meaning, saying that Czechs are well aware of zero tolerance, it's illegal to drink and drive. What's more the labels are clearly of an historic nature, an obvious celebration of Vratislavice's most famous "son".