About the Beer Stein Library

The Beer Stein Library (BSL) began its existence in late 1997 with the purpose of providing a central repository for information about the hobby of beer stein collecting, including scholarly articles and catalogs containing both photographs and descriptions of individual beer steins. Over the years the Library has grown to include some two dozen such catalogs listing well over 10,000 steins, with more than 25,000 photos, as well as the highly-regarded Westerwald Beer Stein Handle Gallery, an unparalleled manufacturer identification tool.

In 2019 the Library was donated American Museum of Ceramic Art (www.amoca.org) in Pomona, CA, where it compliments the museum’s Robert D. and Colette D. Wilson collection of Mettlach Ceramics.

Founder and Contributors

The BSL was initially conceived by Frank Loevi, retired CEO of a company that provided electronic research systems to the federal government. An avid stein collector since the mid-1980s, Frank’s decision to develop the site was based on the conclusion that his background put him in a unique position to spend his retirement years marrying computers and the Internet to the hobby he loves.

Over the years literally hundreds of collectors, far too numerous to mention here individually, have donated their time and expertise to this continually expanding web site, including no small number who have devoted substantial effort to specific projects and whose names can be found associated with those projects throughout the site. Without their help, the Beer Stein Library would not exist.

Goals and Objectives

The overall objective of the Beer Stein Library is to continue to expand the scope of the information that it provides to collectors. It is our hope that over time the BSL will become a truly comprehensive source for information on the complete range of topics included within the framework of the beer stein collecting hobby. Efforts are continually underway to develop new collector resources for the Library, including informative articles, beer stein catalogs and other research tools.

What You Can Do to Help

Many of our regular visitors have the ability to write an article on their collecting specialty or to help in the compilation of information and/or photographs for an online catalog. The whole point of the Beer Stein Library is the sharing of knowledge and information. If the site is to continue its success over the long term, it needs givers as well as takers. How about becoming a giver? Send an email to [email protected] expressing your interest today!