Article Sheds Light on the Origin of Marked HB Steins

Recently I came across an interesting article titled: Der bayerische Masskrug und das bayerische Bier, written by Siegfried Rübensaal. The article title translated is The Bavarian Beer Stein and Bavarian Beer. It delves into the history of Bavarian steins providing valuable insight and information on the steins of a number of Bavarian breweries. What I found that was of particular interest to me was the section of the article that talked about the transition of the standard unit of measure from the Bavarian Mass to the Litre, and also, the bits of the article that talked specifically about HB steins. Although HB steins were not the focus of the article, it there were was a very interesting piece of information that I was not aware of before. Siegfried stated that the Hofbraeuhaus began mark their steins on the body by etching in the HB around 1860. Previously I had been aware that HB marked steins pre-dated the transition from the Bavarian Mass to the Litre, but had know idea how long before. This valuable piece of information indicates that there was roughly a 10 year period where HB steins could have been manufactured with the Bavarian Mass rather than the Litre. In the article there was also a picture of one such stein (above). The picture was not of high enough resolution to get a good look at the measure markings, or detailed features of the stein, but it nonetheless gives a glimpse as to what an HB stein from the 1860's looked like.
The article is written in German, but with the use of Google Translate, much of what is written is understandable. The article is a good read and valuable resource for information for those interested in Bavarian steins, especially brewery steins. Check it out. If anyone reading this knows of a means to conatct the author of the article; Siegfried Rübensaal, please e-mail me at the address provided on the blog. I would like to get in touch with him to ask him further information about the pictured stein, and any other knowledge he might have about early HB steins.