The name Schlenkerla comes from the word "schlenken" which means: "to dangle" ("to hang loosely", or "swing"). Several hundred years ago the owner of the tavern was a man who had been run over by a horse cart. He walked with crooked legs and he used to hang his arms out as he walked. People called him the "Schlenkerla" (the ending "la" on a word often happens in the Netherlands, Belgium, western Germany, and northern France). They would often say: "Let's go to the Schlenkerla" and so the tavern and the beer got its name. The image of this man can still be seen hanging over the entrance to the tavern.