From the splendid metal sign at the entrance, the Münchner Kindl shines down on Einsteinstrasse and laughs and stretches the beer mug – which doesn’t really fit with the current situation at the traditional Unionsbräu restaurant in Haidhausen. On the one hand, the listed building makes a miserable impression: In the entrance area, old newspapers are blowing around, on the mailbox are stickers and graffiti, one of the panes is broken and when you look through the window you see a construction site that has apparently been orphaned for a long time. On the other hand, behind the scenes of the historic house in which one of the largest breweries in Munich once resided, a bitter legal dispute broke out.

So the city as owner of the restaurant gave notice to the landlord in August – before this bar could even open for one day. The reasons given were unpaid rents and unauthorized conversions, says Sandro Wendnagel, the tenant. According to him, his client will take action against the termination. Meanwhile, the city has filed an eviction lawsuit. The municipal department announced: “The building has suffered considerable water damage, which is why the city has given notice to the tenant.” And further: “There is a legal dispute with the tenant in the city about the damage and the evacuation of the property and is not allowed to provide any information on the ongoing proceedings.”

There was still great confidence on all sides when in November 2015 – after three years of vacancy – life returned to the Unionsbräu. One was very happy, said Axel Markwardt at the time, to have found a host in Igor Divjak, “who has again made the Union brewery an extremely hospitable place for Haidhausen, where everyone between the ages of 18 and 80 likes to come together to eat, drink and chat” .

The previous host gave up “because I only had stress and trouble with the city”

The praised man had succeeded Wiesnwirt Wiggerl Hagn in the bar after throwing in the towel in 2012 – after 20 years in unionsbräu. Hagn said at the time that the restaurant was a constant loss for him. Above all, the size of the restaurant proved to be problematic, to which the restaurant on the ground floor also includes a hall and conference rooms on the first floor as well as two basement floors. In addition, there is a difficult parking situation and an agreement that only Löwenbräu drinks can be served in the Unionsbräu.

Despite these difficulties, “good sales were written” after the takeover, says Igor Divjak. Nevertheless, he gave up the Union brewery after five years, “because I only had stress and trouble with the city”. This dispute was also fought out in court; in October 2018 it was about arrears and subletting. So Divjak wanted to establish itself in the Unionsbräu in addition to the restaurant business also so-called escape rooms, in which groups solve puzzles together. “You can’t have an event venue with 800 seats if you only serve beer,” says Divjak. “Those days are long gone.”

As a result of the dispute with the city – or the one for the Union brew of the public housing association GWG – he gave up the restaurant in 2020, says the beginning of Divjak, who runs the Huiras restaurant in Laim. He has hereby sold the GmbH, which is the tenant of the Unionsbräu. The buyer was Sandro Wendnagel’s client who does not want to read his name in the newspaper and speaks about his lawyer. This is because the new tenant modernized the restaurant after the takeover – and in times of the Corona lockdown. “He spent a lot of money to redo the bathrooms and the terrace,” says Wendnagel. At the end of 2020, however, water damage was found. The lawyer emphasizes that this is in no way related to the previous modernizations.

The city has issued a notice of termination – and there is now a dispute about it in court

In this context, the municipal department speaks of “considerable water damage”, the spread of which one tries to prevent through “acute measures”. In fact, work had been going on in the building until spring, reported Wendnagel. Among other things, the floors and the entire kitchen were torn out. “But the construction site has been standing still since May,” the lawyer quarrels. “That is incomprehensible to us. The impression arises that my client is to be pushed out.”

Why is nothing going on in the Union brew? The municipal department leaves this question unanswered – with reference to the ongoing proceedings. A spokeswoman only announces that first a “mutual agreement termination” with the intended tenant. After one can not have come to an agreement, the changes have been made.

Their legality will now also have to be assessed by a court. According to lawyer Sandro Wendnagel, his client is still willing to run the Unionsbräu: “It is his big dream to run such a big restaurant.” From the outcome of the legal dispute, however, it will certainly be some time before the Union brewery can reopen. One is investigating the “considerable renovation effort in the property”, it says on the part of the municipal department. “The scope and duration of the remedial measures can only be determined after these tests have been completed.”