KesterTester103 - A minature statue of a gent with a well-known family name in much of central Europe - but who? UPDATED with results.
Photo: The legacy of this WAG lives on in at least two countries today, all part of the great chops and changes of borders in the last century or so, and despite an extreme political ideology under which the family name was a definite no-no.
For your very own chance of winning rapid global celebrity status, and the much-envied chance of buying me two beers - answers please via the website messaging system or via email. (Please write KT103 in the title so I can quickly trace the message.)
Have a great summery week!
UPDATE: Contestants and the Winner!
My sincere apologies for such tardiness over this KT draw. There just never seems to be enough time for living these days.
Anyway, one early entry for this Well Attired Gentleman mini-statue was from Gábor Rimner, who plumped for none other than: “Kossuth Lajos”.
Well, yes, one might say 'of that ilk' Gábor, for sure (and I hope Noemi's birthday dinner went down well).
Super sleuth Tom Chilton was also quick off the mark:
“Hi KJ,
It's Anton Dreher snr.
Incidentally, I was surprised to see that Dreher is the local beer in Lecce, Italy. Thorough research (5 mins with Wiki and Google Translate) reveals that the Puglian brewery is a descendant of the Dreher brewery in Trieste founded in 1870. The Italian brewery is now a subsidiary of Heineken, who presumably don't mind sharing the brand name with Asahi.”
Ah, well, yes. Actually, as luck would have it, I've been delving into this. It's all to do with the break-up of the Austria-Hungary Empire, and subsequent break-up of the Dreher brewing empire. Actually, as I understand it, Asahi have no choice in the matter, as they have no right to the Dreher name in Italy. (more anon).
Swiftly on Tom's heels was the famed Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann.
“KT 103 Hi Kester, looks very much like the statue of Anton/Antal Dreher by Kolodko in the Kőbánya brewery.”
John Cantwell is always up for a KesterTester punt.
“Hi Kester,
Antal Dreher, founder of Dreher Brewery in Kőbánya, as depicted by sculptor Mihály Kolodka.”
And a day later, Steven Fisher was not to be denied.
“Szia! Or should I say Grüß Gott?
With the help of my wife....it's.....
.....Antal DREHER, the inventor of the lager-induced hang-over.
Másnapotasan.”
Heh! Heh! Heh!
And, slightly to my surprise, that was all the entries.
Indeed, it is Antal Dreher (I honestly forget which one, snr or jnr, but yes, probably snr) who stands astride a beer barrel in the yard of the Dreher Brewery. I was there as part of a press visit, and have done a couple of stories on the company and its heritage as a result.
This is the first one, on the Dreher Brewery as a company story since the takeover by the Asahi Group of Japan in 2017. (The second, on the tourist attraction of the beer museum, will appear in the Budapest Business Journal next Friday.)
And now for the moment all have been waiting for – the blessed winner of KT103.
And with only four names into the hat, the excitement around the draw time was truly palpable, as I'm sure you'll appreciate, with the winning number 2 equating to …. Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann carrying off the prestigious prize and preparing to buy me two beers – Dreher or other :)
Congratulations to Hubert and thanks to all who 'had a go' for KT103.
And maybe have another look at KT104, which seems to have stumped all regular punters so far!
Have a great week!