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Fans served proper pints at Yorkshire pub reconstructed in German town hosting semi-final
Full pints of British ale on offer at Bridlington pub that was stripped and shipped to Iserlohn, where England will play the Netherlands
England fans gearing up for the team’s Euro 2024 semi-final clash with the Netherlands will be able to taste a proper British pint at a Yorkshire pub reconstructed in Germany.
Fans staying in Iserlohn, near Dortmund, which is hosting the match, will be able to enjoy generously filled “half-litres” of Newcastle Brown Ale and Yorkshire beer in The New Crown.
Paul Moss, the owner, stripped fixtures and fittings from The New Crown in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, and shipped them hundreds of miles to Germany three years ago.
The pub is now draped in hundreds of metres of St George’s cross bunting to go alongside a red telephone box in the beer garden and a black cab parked outside.
Mr Moss, a 52-year-old property developer from London, opened the pub in June 2021 after hiring a couple of “chancers” to take it apart in Yorkshire.
After the pub was dismantled, its beer taps, mahogany bar, stained glass windows and decor were packed into a container and shipped straight to Iserlohn.
Its red and white signage survived the move and now hangs outside the former site of a Greek restaurant.
Normally, 95 per cent of customers are locals “who love the idea of an English pub in their town” and “just find it cool and cute”.
It has been welcoming up to 30 England fans per game including some who drank in the original pub in Yorkshire.
The pub’s wooden walls are adorned with posters for music gigs performed at the “old” New Crown, as well as darts trophies, an original Tower Hill tube sign and paintings of the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles.
‘Old sticky carper, dark wood, warm bitter’
“I hate German bars because they’re all a bit sterile, shiny and covered in chrome,” Mr Moss said.
“The old sticky carpet, dark wood, warm bitter on a winter’s day is what you get from a British pub.”
He added: “You can’t find any of this stuff in Germany. Nobody has old mahogany bars.
“It’s all oak and it just looks different. You’d never find a grubby old brass bar rail in a German pub.”
Mr Moss said that he had looked up pubs for sale online and later went to Bridlington to inspect his future acquisition.
“As is normal in British towns, every few hundred metres there’s a pub, but they don’t all work anymore, they’re all dying out slowly,” he said.
“So I did a deal with the guy, said I’ll take absolutely everything. There were certainly some logistics involved.”
He added: “It really was a silly idea. Every boy’s dream is either to be a pilot, a professional footballer or pub owner. I went for the latter.”
‘We fill it right to the top’
Local rules mean full 568ml pints cannot be served, only 500ml, but a bit of generous pouring ensures pub-goers get the closest experience to a proper British pint in Germany.
“A pint is 0.56 litres, but Germans always order half a litre. You won’t get that here; we fill it right to the top,” Moss laughed. “You wouldn’t get a proper pint of beer anywhere else.”