Bayreuth Festival named by Bavaria's culture minister, Thomas Goppel, to take over the Festival. They were to take up their duties immediately, since their father had announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2008 Festival. They were chosen ahead of the pair of their cousin, Nike Wagner, and Gerard Mortier, who had placed a late bid for the directorship on 24 August. The conductor Christian Thielemann has agreed to act as chief adviser to the new directors, effectively taking the role of music director of the Festival. The festival draws thousands of Wagner fans to Bayreuth every summer. It is very
August Wagner Breweries in 1933 following the repeal of Prohibition and the company was again renamed "The August Wagner and Sons Brewing Company." In 1937 the company was renamed "August Wagner Breweries, Inc." The brewery was owned by the Wagner family until 1968, when it was purchased by a group of investors from Detroit, Michigan. In 1970 August Wagner Breweries purchased The Little Switzerland Brewing Company of Huntington, West Virginia, formerly known as the . The Huntington plant was closed in 1971 and production was moved to Columbus; the Columbus brewery closed in January, 1974. The brewery was sold to the Dispatch Printing