The Carlsberg Group is a Danish brewing company founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen with headquarters located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg Beer (named after Jacobsen's son Carl) but it also brews Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Somersby cider, Russia's best selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen abbey beers as well more than 500 local beers.
After merging with the brewery assets of Norwegian conglomerate Orkla ASA in January 2001, Carlsberg became the 5th largest brewery group in the world. It is the leading beer seller in Russia with about 40 percent market share. In 2009 Carlsberg ranked 4th and employed around 45,000 people.
The Founder
J.C. Jacobsen standing in his winter garden known as Pompeji, next to a table with laboratory equipment, a bottle of lager beer and books by Louis Pasteur and Emil Christian Hansen. Painting by August Jerndorff (1886)
As well as founding one of the largest brewery groups in the world, JC Jacobsen (1811-1887) and his son Carl (1842-1914) made an immense contribution to the architecture and cultural life of the Danish capital, Copenhagen
The Jacobsen family inspired the construction of many monuments and buildings throughout the city, including The Little Mermaid, the Danish Museum of Art and Design and the impressive Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, which houses one of the largest collections of antique art in Northern Europe.