Carlsberg Breweries: Ale & Arty

Carlsberg. A beer by any other name does not bring to mind the sculptures of Giacometti, archaeological undertakings in Rome, or the music of Miles Davis. In Denmark, however, the company behind the world-famous beer supports almost everything that is a part of Danish culture. Call it the ale of art: perhaps the most altruistic beer in the world.

Carlsberg Breweries, which since 1970 has included the United Breweries/Tuborg, is owned by the Carlsberg Foundation. The umbrella organization annually pumps about DKr 125 million ($15.6 million) into Danish science, arts, and humanities -- programs that touch nearly every aspect of Danish life. Under its own distinct statutes, the New Carlsberg Foundation, a branch of the mother foundation, kicks in DKr 40 million ($4.9 million) to the visual arts every year. While there is a strong tradition of corporate-backed foundations in Denmark, and many companies offer support to the arts and sciences, Carlsberg's scope and commitment to the culture of a single country is unique in the world.

Since its establishment in 1902, the New Carlsberg Foundation has helped build and support the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and its collection of antiquities. This Copenhagen museum boasts one of the world's finest collections of Etruscan art, and Europe's finest collection of Roman portraits. The museum's permanent collection contains French sculpture, including works by Rodin and Degas, impressionist and postimpressionist paintings by Manet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, and a Danish collection. Many Danish curators attribute the nation's grand state of the arts largely to the New Carlsberg Foundation. According to one, losing its sponsorship would "be a disaster." But what kind of beer company pours the bulk of its profits into art? Herein lies what makes Carlsberg so unusual. The brewery does not own the foundation: the foundation owns a 51% majority stake in the brewery.

While the New Carlsberg Foundation technically handles endowments for the visual arts, the larger Carlsberg Foundation, which supports the sciences and humanities, overlaps into the area of fine art. Among the wide range of projects they have funded: major archaeological excavations in the Roman Forum, studies of the ancient mosaics of the St. George Rotunda in Thessaloniki, Greece, and the complete and continued support of the Frederiksborg Museum north of Copenhagen. A royal residence that burned in 1859 was rebuilt and established as a museum of Danish history by J. C. Jacobsen; it now serves as the nation's portrait museum.

Between the larger foundation and the brewery itself are several smaller foundations, which further support music, industry, and society in general. The Carlsberg Brewery is also the owner of many businesses that deal in the decorative arts, including Holmegaard glass, Royal Copenhagen, and Georg Jensen, all of which exist under the umbrella company Royal Scandinavia. Of course, Carlsberg's associate concern, Tivoli Gardens, is considered by many a work of art in and of itself. Carlsberg also helps to fund annual events such as the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and the Roskilde Rock Festival, as well as concerts and performances by international artists. Clearly, there is more to these noble suds than meets the lips.