The Almdudler Story

The success story of Almdudler begins with the wedding of Erwin and Ingrid Klein. It was 17 October 1957 when the two said "I do" and the groom, deeply in love, gave his bride a very special gift. He created a unique lemonade for her, inspired by the herbal world of the Alps, and presented her with the first filled bottle. Erwin Klein was therefore not only an entrepreneur and inventor, he was clearly also a romantic. And so Almdudler is, in the truest sense, a drink with heart and soul.

Erwin Klein showed great creativity not only in creating his Alpine herbal lemonade itself - the bottle is also truly unique. To this day. Its shape is just as unmistakable as the legendary traditional couple Marianne and Jakob, who have been inseparably linked with Almdudler from the beginning. They symbolise the love of the newlyweds and became the iconic trademark - with plenty of charm and a wink.

At the end of the 1950s, Erwin Klein wanted to make his sparkling thirst quencher available to everyone. As a pioneer, he introduced a distribution model that was revolutionary for its time: around 300 bottlers began producing Almdudler under licence. This made it possible for the first time to sell a local lemonade throughout Austria. The rest, as they say, is history. Almdudler took consumers' hearts by storm and, within just a few years, became an absolute favourite among the Austrian population. 

To this day, Almdudler is a Viennese family business strongly shaped by the personalities of its owners. After Erwin Klein's early death in 1983, the company was taken over by his then 20-year-old son Thomas Heribert. Together with his sister Michaela, he succeeded in giving Almdudler its current cult status and establishing it as the most popular herbal lemonade brand. His aim has always been to preserve tradition and maintain what has proved its worth, while never losing sight of the future. That is why Almdudler keeps reinventing itself - and above all, differently than expected.

Incidentally, lemonade did not start flowing through the family's veins with Erwin Klein. This passion was passed down through generations. His grandfather was already a well-known soda water producer and made soda water and sparkling fruity refreshments at the end of the 19th century. His lemon and raspberry sodas were once considered the best in all of Vienna.