Wurzelpeter
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| Type | Bitter |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Berliner Bären Siegel GmbH |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Website | www |
Wurzelpeter is an assertive bitter hailing from Germany, originally developed by Berlin-based pharmacist Paul Pöschke in 1875 as strengthening potion including secret ingredients, mostly picked from the German forest.
Since 1949 WurzelPeter was bottled by the VEB Bärensiegel Berlin in the former GDR which became Berliner Bärensiegel GmbH after the Berlin Wall came down and was acquired by Franz Wilhelm Langguth Erben in 1990, a winery with its headquarters in Traben-Trarbach, a municipality in the district Bernkastel-Wittlich. Hence, Berliner Bärensiegel GmbH continued to produce and bottle the herbal liqueur in Berlin-Lichtenberg.
Marketing
WurzelPeter's marketing icon is the gnome WurzelPeter which is also featured in the brands logo. The name 'Wurzel' derives from the German word for 'root' as gnomes – mostly referring to German fairytales – live underneath the trees roots.
WurzelPeter toys are available from the distributor; the most popular one depicting the iconic gnome with his foot on a soccer ball, not dissimilar to an old-fashioned forward like Rodney Marsh in his QPR heyday. The well known signature Wurzelpeter music now on the website has been remixed by a number of contemporary DJs, but is most known for its heavily sampling by Tricky during the 1990s Bristol trip hop era. Wurzelpeter is a notorious cult drink of choice for travelling British football supporters, who have attached to their favourite drink a series of affectionate songs.
The brand is also highly praised in Asian countries like South Korea and is iconic in Singapore, Malaysia and India. Further WurzelPeter export markets are Japan, Israel, Estland, Austria and Mongolia.
2014 WurzelPeter launched a unique underground marketing campaign named #scrt_brln which is mainly focused on glitch- and street art as well as electronic music culture. As a result of this ongoing, ever evolving creative campaign WurzelPeter caught the attention of buzzing Berlin's art- / music scene whilst the on- and offline #scrt_brln activities went viral and were spread successfully over various social media channels and streetart blogs.