Hainhölzer Aquavit
Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
- ABV
- 38%
- Base spirit
- Unknown
- Color
- Clear
- Style
- Unaged Aquavit
Hainhölzer Aquavit was a German aquavit from Hannover, associated with the historic Kornbrennerei August Schmidt in the Hainholz district of the city. The surviving miniature is a clear, colourless spirit and carries the wording Deutsches Erzeugnis, together with the name Hainhölzer Aquavit, a panoramic view of Hannover and the distillery’s shield emblem marked with the letter S and the date 1878.
The name Hainhölzer refers directly to Hainholz, the Hannover district where August Schmidt’s Korn distillery was established in 1878. The label therefore connects the aquavit closely with its local origin, using both the district name and a cityscape identified as Hannover. Historical collector indexing also places Hainhölzer bottlings under August Schmidt.
About the producer
Kornbrennerei August Schmidt
Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
Kornbrennerei August Schmidt was founded in 1878 in Bertramstraße in Hannover-Hainholz. The company operated as a genuine Korn distillery, and its original industrial complex at Bertramstraße 4–4b survives today. The historic entrance still carries the name Kornbrennerei August Schmidt together with the foundation date 1878.
The business was later formally recorded in the Hannover commercial register as Kornbrennerei August Schmidt, HRA 13635. The register entry itself dates from 1927, although the distillery’s much earlier foundation in 1878 is independently documented by the surviving site and its history. The older registered firm is now listed as deleted.
By the 1970s the August Schmidt name was also connected with operations in Langenhagen-Krähenwinkel. A local agricultural history records fields belonging to the agricultural estate of Kornbrennerei August Schmidt there in 1977, while Hainhölzer Kornbrennerei GmbH was established in Langenhagen in 1972 for the production and sale of Kornbrand and other spirits. That company remains active at Walsroder Straße 257–271 and is managed by August Schmidt jun.
The original Hainholz distillery eventually went bankrupt. In 1983, artist Siegfried Neuenhausen acquired the former factory complex and transformed it into studios, workshops and living spaces for artists. The old distillery buildings remain a recognizable part of Hainholz today, while spirits carrying the Hainhölzer name, including Hainhölzer Doppelkorn, have continued to be bottled in Langenhagen.