Brewers & Breweries

John Barnitz (11-24-1677 to 11-19-1749) & Elias Daniel Barnitz (to 2-6-1780) First Brewers of Baltimore Town: 

Zion Church can claim the first brewer of Baltimore Town, Elias Daniel Barnitz, as a founding member our congregation. Along with his father John, they established their brewery in 1748. John was born in Falkenstein in the Palatinate of Germany on November 24, 1677, arriving in America in 1732 at the age of 55. In Germany he had been an apprentice brewer. Elias Daniel was also born in Falkenstein, prior to 1721. After residing in York County, Pennsylvania, John arrived in Baltimore Town in 1748 at the age of 71. He and his son found the Baltimore settlement surrounded by a stockade fence, erected in 1746. Lost to history is the purpose of the stockade, but it was believed to provide protection from hostile Native Americans west of the town.

The Barnitz brewery was gratefully welcomed by Baltimore's early inhabitants, about 30 families in all. The brewery was viewed as both a source of liquid refreshment and impetus to attract other businesses to the nascent settlement, then just 22 years old. The original brewery was located at the southwest corner of Baltimore and Hanover Streets, today the entrance to Hopkins Plaza and cater-corner to the Lord Baltimore (Radisson) Hotel. This was one of the original lots of Baltimore Town, purchased from Charles Carroll, Sr. He was father of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

To place this brewery in historical context, George II was King of England and Sovereign Lord of the Province of Maryland. Samuel Ogle was Governor of Maryland, and George Washington was just a lad of sixteen. Tobacco was used as currency.

Unfortunately, the elder Barnitz died on November 19, 1749, surviving his brewery but for one year. The brewery was then passed on to Elias Daniel. Although no description of Baltimore Town's first brewery exists, it was assumed to be diminutive in size and small in output, one or two stories in construction and employing no more than three workers. Equipment was likely crude, consisting of copper cookers, fermenting tubs and racking for casks and kegs. The entire brewing process was done by manual labor. The water supply was drawn from a well.  The "aging" period was likely a short one as there was no cooling cellar to lager the beer. Records indicate beer was produced at this location until about 1815, with the building itself lasting over 100 years, until 1853.

 And so brings us to Elias Daniel’s role in the establishment of the Zion Lutheran Church.  The first church in Baltimore Town was St. Paul's at Charles and Saratoga Streets. In 1750, the few German settlers organized the First German Reformed Congregation across the street, of which Barnitz was an early member. According to Scharf's "Chronicles of Baltimore", early Zion Church records indicate both Lutherans and German Reformed congregations worshipped together up to 1758, where "great friendship and harmony prevailed." According to Pastor Julius Hofmann's 1905 history of Zion Church, "A few years after the city of Baltimore was laid out, several German families betook themselves thither to live, of which Mr. Vitus Hartweg, harness-maker, was the very first." Further, pastor wrote: "With this scheme (for the establishment) of Zion Lutheran Church the aforesaid gentlemen went to Herr Lawson (Alexander Lawson, owner of the property on Saratoga Street, then called Fish Street, where the church was desired to be established), taking with them Mr. Michael Tieffenback, as elder of the church, and Mr. Hartweg, harness-maker, and Mr. Daniel Barnets (sic) (brewer) as representatives of the church. The contract was then made." This was in 1755, and the Fish Street Church was constructed in 1758 through the proceeds from a lottery. The Second Constitution of the church, adopted August 5, 1773, contains the signatures of Messrs. Hartweg and Barnitz along with 147 others. In 1808, the Fish Street church was abandoned for the current building on Gay Street due to the constant flooding of a nearby Jones Falls tributary.

Elias Daniel Barnitz died in Baltimore on February 6, 1780, having conducted his brewery for 31 years. He was but the first of over two dozen Baltimore brewers who were Zion members, firmly establishing us as the “Brewers’ Church.”

Above information courtesy of Mark Duerr-posted 10-29-2013

The Bauernschmidt Family

The Bauernschmidt Brothers, born to Johann (7-22-1804) and Barbara Hötzlelein  (9-25-1798) in Wannbach, Franconia, Germany.  Barbara was born in Unterzaunsbach.  They were married on March 2, 1829.  They had four children.  All three sons were in the brewery business.   The church where they were baptized is in a neighboring village (Hetzelsdorf)

• Kunigunda (born 2-24-1828)

• Johann Jacob (born 6-10-1830)

• Johann George (born 5-28-1835)

• Johann Thomas (born 3-18-1838)

Thanks to Rainer Dörry for the additional information

Bauernschmidt, Frederick (1-10-1863 to 3-8-1933)                 Brewer & Philanthropist

Frederick was the son of George and Margaretha* (Wiessner) and was born in Baltimore.  His father was born in Germany and both George and Margaretha’s families were involved in the brewing business.  When Frederick’s father, George (see profile above) sold the plant to the Maryland Brewing Company, Frederick started his own business to compete with the brewing giant, which at the time had purchased and consolidated all of the breweries in the city of Baltimore.  He chose to open his plant near the Belair Market, which had plenty of space available for parking wagons, etc.  Frederick had long experience and the knowledge to undertake such a venture.  He began construction of a modern brewery in 1897, when the country was still unsettled due to the recent ‘panic of 1893’[1].  He borrowed large amounts of money to complete the plant and in 1899, his American Brewery began operations. He suffered through many years of difficulty in establishing his operation, but by 1918 his business had grown substantially.  It was reported that an English syndicate offered him three million dollars for the business.  He did not sell and due to the adoption of the Prohibition amendment, his brewing business became almost worthless overnight.  At the time of the adoption of the amendment, he was brewing 350,000 barrels of beer a year.  He was fifty-five and faced with forced retirement.  He still maintained a large fortune.  The brewery operated from 1899-1919.

Frederick also sat on the Board of Directors for the 'Free State' Brewing Company, which reopened the brewery.  The brewmaster, John Merzbacher, was previously the brewmaster for Gunther.  It is said that it was named 'Free State' because the term was used by an editorial writer due to the fact that Maryland would not hire enforcement agents during prohibition.  The brewery was located at 1108 Hillen and operated from 1900 to 1950.

His will reflected the type of person Frederick was.  Shortly after his retirement in 1921, he made his will and established a legacy of $500,000 for various charities in Baltimore in addition to a trust of $1,000,000 payable after the death of his wife.  Frederick had become a philanthropist.  One of his most significant contributions to Baltimore, however, was the donation to the Union Memorial Hospital.  After discussing particulars with Dr. J. M. Finney (Mr. Bauernschmidt’s physician), once Senior Surgeon and Chief of Staff at the hospital, Mr. Bauernschmidt was determined to erect and equip the building on the Guilford Avenue front of the hospital, which was eventually named the Frederick Bauernschmidt Memorial Building.

He was generous to the point of being lavish in equipping the hospital throughout.

Mr. Bauernschmidt dedicated time and resources to the ‘middle class’.  He was persuaded that the well to do and the poor received the best hospital treatment and he wanted to help the great middle class who were sometimes unable to meet their obligations to the hospital.  He established a trust fund of one millions dollars in securities, the income of which should be devoted to those who through unfortunate circumstances were unable to pay the cost of their hospitalization in full.  In his letter dated March 12, 1925, to his Trustees, he indicates the goal toward which he is striving and gives practical directions, born of his long and successful business career, in the operation of the Fund.

Mr. Bauernschmidt’s beneficiaries included, not only the Union Memorial Hospital, but also included hospitals operated under Jewish, Catholic and Protestant auspices and covered hospitals located in every section of the city.  The trust was so successful that he conveyed all of his real estate holdings, except his home in Baltimore and a summer home in Middle River, to trustees to manage for the benefit of the Hospital for Consumptives at Eudowood and the Home for Incurables. The value of his real estate holdings was at one time estimated to be more than a million dollars.  At the time of his death he gave one million additional to various hospitals in Baltimore, payable upon the death of his wife and $500,000 to various other charities.  He gave $50,000 each to the General German Aged People's Home and to the General German Orphan Association, and equal sums for the Maryland School for the Blind and the Maryland School for the Deaf. An examination of the will discloses that there are not less than thirty separate charitable institutions receiving substantial legacies.

From the Baltimore Evening Sun at the time of his death,  "Any man who has given away nearly $3,000,000 must be regarded as a notable personage, but it was not merely the great size of his benefactions that made Frederick Bauernschmidt remarkable. The way in which he gave was as distinctive as the size of his donations”. "He had small respect for that sort of charity that confines itself to scattering alms among the beggars. He believed that a little assistance given a hard-working man pursued by bad luck does more good in the world than much larger amounts spent in supporting the worthless. Thus, when he made his donations to the hospitals, he arranged it so that the benefit should accrue, not to paupers, but to self-respecting people accustomed to pay their own bills but not in position to pay the heavy bills that hospital treatment runs up. He furnished free treatment to nobody; but he made it possible for people with little money to pay with their little for the best of treatment for their loved ones.

*Margarethe Bauernschmidt is named on Zion's Frauenverein memorial as passing away in 1912.  This shows they were members of Zion Church of the City of Baltimore.  The family is interred at Druid Ridge Cemetery.

For additional information compiled by Cynthia Requardt, click here.

Beck, August (7-25-1821 to 9-5-1849)

Beck, August  Jr. (7-28-1849 to 1-23-1902)

Berger, Bernhardt

Berger,  J.M. 

Cumberland Brewing Company

Engel Brewery

Otto John Engel (10-24-1822 to 3-29-1869)

Joseph Schreier (7-24-1829 to 8-18-1884)

Otto J. Engel Brewery opened about 1860.   The brewery has changed hands multiple times, but Otto John Engel was the first brewery located at 2336 East North Avenue.  This location had been the plant of the Eckels Ice Cream & Dairy Company.  Engel was born near Hanover, Germany on October 24, 1822 and came to the U.S. as a young man.  The brewery is said to have been south and almost adjoined to the von der Horst brewery.   The eastern end of the then Boundary avenue brewery stopped just west of the brewery, now Patterson Park Avenue.    Engel excavated and vaulted beer cellars under North Avenue.  Engel built his second home on the southwest corner of North Avenue and Gay Street.  On this, his second home, just like the first, he operated a saloon.   It has been reported that the North Avenue where the caverns had been built collapsed under the weight of a circus wagon.  It was later repaired and a lagering vault was excavated on the north side of the Avenue.  [1]

Otto’s earlier activities, according to the Baltimore Directory, was that of a saloon owner at 139 Orleans Street (1855-1856) and then in 1857 at 254 South Bond Street.  He had a small brewery in 1860 at 59 North Exeter Street.  He also drove a beer truck for a few years for the George Röst Brewery.

Lawrence John Engel, the son of Otto reported to this source that his father knew very little of beer brewing, but employed capable beer brewers.  Shortly after his brewery was build, he employed George Brehm as a foreman.  Of course, Brehm later had his own brewery on Brehm’s Lane (see profile on this website). The rest of the Engel family included Anna Margaretha, who was born in Unterscheidenthal,  Baden, Germany and their children:  Mary, Sophia, Louisa, Henry, Frank and Lawrence. 

Otto died on March 29, 1869.  Upon his death, his wife Anna Engel ran the brewery for one year.  Anna actually received a silver cup trophy from the Allgemeinen Sangerfest for producing, what is believed to be the best beer in Baltimore.   In 1868-69, George Stab was the brewmaster.  He too had his own brewery at Montford and Fait Avenues for several years beginning in 1870. 

Anna ran the brewery until she married Joseph Schreier and he took over the brewery.  Joseph was born on July 24, 1829 in Unterscheidenthal, Buchen district, Grand Duchy of Baden.  Joseph was not a brewer, but was a saloon keeper on Aliceanna Street near Broadway at Fells Point.  The marriage in 1870 brought Schreier into the management of Engel  Brewery.  Leo Ewald was employed as the brewmaster.  From 1880-1884, John Ermer was the brewmaster.   Ermer had previously worked as brewmaster for Eigenbrot’s on Hollins and Willard Streets (see bio this website), and Schneider’s at Dillon and Third Streets.  There were no children born to the Anna-Joseph union, but he was active in raising the children of Anna to Otto Engel. 

The brewery during Schreier’s time was modern.  It’s output was 7198 barrels in 1878 and 6664 barrels in 1879.[2]  The brewer in 1886 was Lorenz Schreier (Lawrence Engel)[3].  His address was listed as the Schreier home at North Avenue and Gay Street.    The son Lorenz was shown on the 1860 census.  It is assumed that he later took the name of his step father Schreier and changed the first name to Lawrence. [4]

The 1900 census shows Anna M. Schreier living with her son Lawrence on Luzerne Street.  Also living there was her daughter Sophie Gable  and her daughter Ida. [5]

Joseph operated the brewery until his death on August 18, 1884.  His obituary stated that he died after a lingering illness at the age of 65 years.  The Sunpaper listing on August 22, 1884 indicates that Colonel Joseph Schreier is buried in Holy Redeemer Cemetery on Belair Road and a delegation of the Grand Army of the Republic was in attendance.  Schreier was a solder of the Civil War.  He enlisted on September 1, 1863 and was with Company K, 10th Infantry.  He mustered out on January 29, 1864.[6]  It is assumed that his rank was due to his involvement and membership in the veterans association.   His obituary found in the Deutsche Correspondent on stated that a solemn requiem Mass was held at St. James Church, where Father Hölscher presided.  His pallbearers:  H.C. Römer, L. Muth, Sr., C. Kauenberg, F. Kuhl, N. Kreβ, J. Bauer, F. Göbel and F. Föhner.    This obituary also shows his service in Baden as a noncommissioned officer in the first Baden Cavalry Regiment.  [7]

After his death, the brewery was in receivership and the mortgage was foreclosed.  Leo Ewald, former brewmaster with Schreier and Henry Schuchmann, a restauranteur, who became collector for the brewery.  The brewery could not compete with the more modern and plentiful breweries in the area, so it was closed.   After it closed, Ewald became a brewer for the old National and Gunther breweries in Canton.  Schuchmann went into the saloon business at 115 Gough Street in East Baltimore. 

Anna continued to conduct business at the saloon within her home at the corner of Gay Street and North Avenue.  She kept the saloon until 1893, then went into the same business at 1400 North Luzerne Avenue.  Anna died on April 2, 1910 at her then residence on east Biddle Street.  She was 80 years old and was interred in the lot of Otto J. Engel, her first husband.  The Engels were Lutheran and the Schreiers were Catholic.  She converted when she married Joseph, but was interred with her Lutheran family. 

[1] Brewing in Maryland, William J. Kelly, pages 397 to 400

[2] Tovey’s Brewing Directory,

[3] Baltimore City Directory 1886

[4] 1860 Federal Census for Margaret Ingle.   Otto John is shown as a wagon driver.

[5] 1900 Federal Census

[6] Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-1865

[7] Obituary from the Deutsche Correspondent, August 22, 1884, page 4

Engelberth, William F., Sr. (1-1-1866 to 1-8-1947)

William was born on New Year’s Day in Germany.  He came to the United States in 1904 and worked admirably at his trade as a brewer.  He retired from that trade in 1927. 

He was the President of the Independent Citizens Union and a member of the German Singing Socieities during the time they made history here in Baltimore.  He was a member of Eichenkranz Singing Society and the Union almost immediately upon his arrival.  The Union was organized around 1907 to help Germans coming to this country and to help make them American citizens.  Mr. Engelberth was president from 1933 to 1944.  He was a member of Zion Church of the City of Baltimore.

He was married to Matilda Engelberth (nee Schuster).  Together they had five children, Ms. Henry Scholing, Mrs. John Hutschenreuteer, Mrs. George Mauler, William Engelberth, Jr., and Max Engelberth.

Englehardt, John  (11-1850 to 7-19-1902)

John Englehardt was born in Germany in November 1850.  He immigrated from Bremen aboard the ship ‘Rhein’ and arrived in New York in August, 1873 and lived in New Jersey.  He married Elizabeth and together they had four children, Hazel, Augusta, John and Ferdinand.  It is not certain when he moved to Maryland, but in 1900 the family lived on Garrison Lane and Mr. Englehardt’s occupation is listed as a brewer.

Mr. Englehardt was the president of the Brewmasters’ Association of Baltimore.  His death was a result of a fall he had in the cellar of the Frank Steil Brewery (Garrison Lane).

He was a member of the Kind David Masonic Lodge, Germania Lodge, No.1, Sons of Hermann and the Improved Order of Hepinsophs. 

The service was performed by Rev Richard Stave, pastor of St. John’s German Evangelical Church and he is buried at Loudon Park. 

Source:  Sunpaper Obituary 7-22-1902 and 1900 census

The German Brewing Company

Gunther, George (3-29-1846 to 9-1912)

Gunther Brewery (1880-1960)

Hagerstown Brewery

Founded around 1900, this small brewery produced about 125 barrels a day.  The manager was W.D. Wilson and the Office Manager was Charles E. Ochs.  The cost of the brewery was $150,000.

Helldoerfer, Sebastian-Star Brewery (dod:  1-29-1893) 

Hoenervogt

This brewery was founded in 1864 by George Wiessner and taken over in 1871 by Lord Hoenervogt, who married the widow of Mr. Wiessner.  The business was subsequently taken over by the two sons of Hoenervogt and his first marriage.  Their annual turnover in the late 1800s was approximately 8000 barrels.  There was also the Hoenervogt Park, which was a popular picnic place for residents in East Baltimore.

Eigenbrot Brewery

Joh, Ferdinand (12-12-1827 to 3-7-1875)

Eigenbrot, Henry (12-3-1845 to 4-19-1906) and family are buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.

Obiturary for Henry Eigenbrot

More about the Eigenbrot Brewery:

This description of the Eingebrot Brewery is adapted from the Maryland Inventory of Historic Places.

The majority of the Eigenbrot Brewery Company was built in 1873 by Ferdinand Joh. This group of structures includes those which border South Warwick Street at the foot of Lipps Lane. Central to this early group is a two-story brick building with a gable roof which later served as a “wash and storage” room. This was probably part of the original brewhouse . North of this building and adjacent to it is a one story brick building which later became part of the brewery’s bottling plant. South of it is a three-story hops storage building with a highly decorative brick cornice. In 1892 the brewery began a modernization program which greatly increased its capacity. Key to this was the installation of a refrigeration system to expedite the cooling of the wort.

An elaborate boiler house and compressor house fronting on Willard Street housed the unit. The former has a rooftop lantern now in badly deteriorated condition . In 1896 and 1897 a new brewhouse and cold storage warehouse was added . The brewhouse is a five-story brick structure fronting on Willard Street just north of the office. The warehouse is also five stories but is much higher – each floor having sufficient clearance for the large wooden fermenting vats and storage tanks.

In 1906 the company added three new structures to house its expanded distribution facilities: A two-story brick stable along Hollins Street, a two-story addition to the bottling plant and a new stock house . In 1909 a new refrigeration plant was built be­ tween the 1873 and the new warehouse.

Baltimore was a major center of brewing in the nineteenth century, partly because of its large German population (and appeal to new German immigrants) and also because of its ready supply of grain. By the late nineteenth century there were dozens of small, independently owned breweries. The industry remained a prosperous one until Prohibition crippled it in 1920. Brewery architecture, the only remains of this once thriving industry, with its romantic, Germanic character and elaborate decoration, has given Baltimore some of its most interesting industrial structures. The Eigenbrot brewery in Southwest Baltimore founded in 1873 and remodled in 1896, is an excellent example of brewery architecture.

The Eigenbrot Brewery on Willard Street in West Baltimore was actually founded by Ferdinand Joh in 1873. Joh died in 1876, however, and the brewery was inherited by his daughter Louisa, who married Henry Eigenbrot the same year. Eigenbrot was a thirty year old machinist, the son of a saloon keeper . Though he became the manager, Louisa retained title to the brewery. The brewery was not incredibly successful, but it did enough business to continue, and to support the Eigenbrots in a comfort­ able style. In 1892, however, a reorganization of the brewery came about, and Alexander Straus, the son of malt supplier Levi Straus, became the new manager. (As a result of their role as malt suppliers, the Straus family had a great deal of power in the brewing industry.) A new company was formed, and Alexander Straus became the principal owner along with Louisa Eigenbrot.

The brewery underwent a great deal of expansion and modern­ization under Straus. The plant was enlarged and new equipment, including refrigeration units, were installed, In 1891, the year before Straus took over, the brewery produced about 14,000 barrels of beer, but by 1895 production reached about 45,000. A fire at the brewery in 1896 precipitated the erection of a new and larger brewhouse, and in 1897 a new large storage building was erected as well.

In 1899, the Maryland Brewing Company, a newly formed con­glomerate, purchased the Eigenbrot Brewery along with seventeen other Baltimore breweries. Straus was retained as manager, but Eigenbrot retired at this time. The Maryland Brewing Company was sold to the Gottlieb-Bauernschmidt-Straus Brewing Company in 1901. This sale included the Eigenbrot property. Henry Eigenbrot died in 1906.

A two-story addition to the bottling and storage house, a new stock house and a two-story stable were built in 1906. In 1909, concrete floors, electric lighting and steam heat were installed, and in 1911 a 75 ton ammonia condenser and new vertical single – acting compressors were added. Straus left the brewery in 1912, and Charles Bach became brewmaster and manager. He retained this position until 1920, when Prohibition closed all the breweries . A moving and storage company took over the property at that time. 

Monumental Brewing

The brewery was located at East Lombard, Eaton, Haven and Baltimore began in 1898 as the Monarch Brewing Company which ran out of money while being built was completed with the help of investors and renamed.  The new Monumental began operations in 1900.  It was fully refrigerated (one of the first).  Peter Schmidt, the baker was an officer of the corporation and called on John F (Johann Franz) Kresslein (see below) who was working for the Oriental Brewery (see profile this page) to be the brewmaster .  William Strauss was named President (former president of National).  Prohibition put Monumental out of business. 

Kresslein, John F.  (1860 to 11-6-1929)

National Brewery

Charles Jerold Hoffberger (4-7-1919 to 4-9-1999)

‘Jerry’ Hoffberger was the son of Samuel and Gertrude (nee Miller, daughter of Louis and Sarah, both Russian)  Hoffberger.  Samuel’s parents were born in Austria.  Samuel practiced law in Baltimore. [According to the 1920 Federal Census-Ward 6, District 28].  Charles was born in Baltimore and in 1920, they lived with their in-laws at 2412 E. Baltimore Street.  Samuel was a shareholder and Chairman of the National Brewing Company.  Charles attended Virginia University and served in the US Army during WWII.  He was wounded.  After the war, he was appointed president of the brewery when the then president  Arthur Deute died.  Arthur was the creator of the one eyed 'Mr. Boh'.  The Hoffbergers’ took over the brewery near the end of prohibition in 1933. 

The Hoffbergers were prominent in Baltimore business owning a coal, ice and oil business.  They also had a dairy, bakery and poultry operations.  Jerry Hoffberger was by all accounts, a good and honest man to work for. 

When St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck was all but forced to sell the team, Hoffberger  put together a syndicate that bought the team for $2.5 million and moved it to Baltimore as the Orioles.  Initially he was a silent partner, but as time passed he acquired more and more stock until he had the controlling interest in 1965.  He was the owner of the Orioles throughout their most successful years.  He sold the team in 1979 for $12 million. 

He was inducted to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1996 (with Cal Ripken, Sr., and Billy Hunter). 

He was a very charitable man.  In 1983, Town and Country magazine estimated that he had donated more than $10 million to charitable organizaitons.   He and his wife, Alice,  had three sons, Peter, Richard and David and one Daugter, Carol. 

He spent the retirement years of his life on a farm in Howard County where he bred thoroughbred horses for racing.  He died at Sinai Hospital in 1999.

Rossmarck, George (3-21-1815 to 3-2-1887)

Rossmarck, Ferdinand T. (1848 to 5-3-1910)

Rossmarck, John  (8-21-1845 to 11-4-1929)

While working on a historical tour for the Zion Church of the City of Baltimore, I came across many of the memorials on 

the stained glass windows marked ‘Rossmarck’.  Checked with my 'go to brewery guy', Mark Duerr, and sure enough Rossmarck was a brewer and was very active at Zion. There were several Rossmarck’s in the brewing business.  The earliest record I could find was in 1846, the first, Pioneer Lager Beer Brewery' erected by George Rossmarck.  There was also a George Rossmarck Brewery at Liberty & Saratoga Streets in Baltimore.  This brewery existed from 1852 to 1862. 

There are some suggestions that there was a feud growing between George Rossmarck and the Strauss brothers when a notice appearing in the Sunpaper on November 11, 1858 has George denouncing any sale of his properties, which apparently were both put up for sale by Struass.  The properties were located at 24 North Frederick Street and another at Cross Street (shown as his residence and tavern in the 1880 census, which would indicate no sale took place).  In fact Mr. Rossmarck, in his notice, invited all of his friends to partake in a LUNCH at the Frederick Street location on November 18.  He indicates the lunch will be gratis by Mr. Bucksbaum, the present tenant and will include Lager Beer made of Denmead’s malt….also gratis.

Prior to the Civil War and due to the lack of refrigeration, tunnels were used to store the kegs.  The tunnels were used by several breweries including Rossmarck (also Sieger & Siefel). The tunnels ran throughout Federal Hill and it is said that at least six caves were discovered.  The caves were open to explorers and one Sunday several explorers stumpled into several barrels of whiskey.  They are uncertain who left it.  It was assumed that it was either the Rossmarck brewery or a local beer garden proprietor named Schummelman. (Federal Hill, A Baltimore National Historic District, Norman Rukert, 1980).  Click here for Sunpaper article on caves.

Ferdinand became the primary brewer, being superintendent of the ‘Spring Garden Brewery’ in 1900.  The Spring Garden Brewery was located at 1540 Ridgely Street.  A notice appearing in the Sunpaper dated June 3, 1899 debunks rumors that Spring Garden Brewery has joined others that joined the recently organized Baltimore Brewers as ‘The Maryland Brewing Company’.  The notice went on to state:

To the general public and saloon-keepers in particular, we desire to state positively that the Spring Garden Brewery has not, and will not, have any connection with trusts or combinations, but will continue to operate as the Independent Brewery, relying upon the merit of our product and the popular sense of fair play, to retain the favor of our patrons and extend our trade.

Whenever there is a Trust there is oppression, which eventually asserts itself and cripples trade by removing the opportunity for honest competition.  Our intention is to give our patrons a thoroughly honest, absolutely pure Beer, at a minimum cost, and by liberal and courteous treatment, hope to continue to receive their confidence and support.  It was signed by The Baltimore Breweries Company (Ltd.) (Spring Garden Brewery); Charles Schutte General Manager and Ferd Rossmarck, Superintendent.

Ferdinand married Clara Virginia Wolfes on February 24, 1874, and moved to Martinsburg, West Virginia.  Clara died at the age of 24 on January 5, 1880.  Ferdinand had two children by this marriage, Louis George who passed away as an infant in 1875 and Caroline (1875-1881).  On the 1880 census Ferdinand the widower was still residing in Berkely County, West Virginia.   

Ferdinand  married  a second time to Bertha (Freckmann).  They lived, according to the 1910 Federal Census in Baltimore.  She died 2-9-1924.  She was buried from their residence at 3929 Edmondson Avenue.  Ferdinand and Bertha are buried in Lorraine Cemetery. 

In 1905, there was a Ferdinand T. Rossmarck & Son Company, incorporated by Ferdinand with George J. Rossmarck, Bertha Rossmarck and Frederick Keages and Herman Heimiller. 

Ferdinand also acted as Secretary for the Boulevard Permanent Building & Loan Association.  They were active members of Zion Church which was included in the will of Bertha Rossmarck.

The son John also operated a brewery according to a notice in the Baltimore Sunpaper on January 6, 1868, which announces a ‘Ball’ at the location of the Excelsior Brewery. 

John C. Rossmarck died on November 4, 1929 at the age of 84. He was buried from the home of his daughter (Lena Tiemyer) on Garrison Boulevard and is interred at Loudon Park.  The Rev. Fritz Evers of Zion provided the service.  John was married to Mary and they had three daughters, Laura, Emma and Lina and one son George.  Mary died on 2-1-1918. 

There was also an indication that there was a brewer by the name of Christian Rossmarck and that he operated a brewery at 1705 Aliceanna Street and 806 South from 1850-1864.

The windows at Zion are in the Adlersaal and Library and include:

• Ferdinand T.                       5-3-1910

• Ferdinand C.                      3-20-1899

• George Rossmarck            3-2-1877

• Mary Rossmarck               9-2-1877

Rost, George (4-27-1817 to 12-4-1871)                                     Standard Brewery (a.k.a Rust)

He was born in Bavaria and immigrated to the US in 1851 aboard the ship ‘Martha’ from Bremen.  He learned his trade while in Germany and opened the brewery which was located between Gay Street and the 2200 block of North Avenue.  It opened in 1853.  One of his early brewmasters was John F. Wiessner, who had just arrived in this country and would later open Wiessner’s brewery (see bio this page). He was one of the first to build a beer garden next to the brewery and called it George Rost’s Meadow, where patrons could enjoy his beer and sing good old German beer drinking songs.   Rost dug tunnels beneath the streets of Baltimore where he could store his lager to ferment. 

He is buried at Baltimore Cemetery.

Source: 1870 Census (Baltimore Ward 7)-53 years old and listed as a beer brewer born in Bavaria.  He is listed with his wife Sophia  and children John (27), Frederick (17), George (5)  and Rosa (4).  Wood’s Baltimore City Directory lists the brewery at Belair Av near Baltimore Cemetery.

Schlaffer, Franz & Sons, Oriental Brewery

Franz Schlaffer (8-21-1830 to 1906)

Anna Schlaffer (1830 to 1904)

The brewery was founded in 1872 by Franz Schlaffer and stood on Belair Road until it moved to Canton due to the poor

Seeger, Jacob (10-26-1809 to )-Crystal Brewery

Frank Steil Brewing Company

Frank Steil died on October 7, 1923 of heart disease.  He is buried at Lorraine Park.  The baptismal font at Zion Church of the City of Baltimore bears his name and acknowledgement for the donation.  He was also active in several singing societies including the German Männechor.

The Frank Steil Brewing Company was established December 1,1900, the officers of the company being Frank Steil, President; Fred Steil, Vice President; Henry Bucksbaum, Secretary.  This celebrated brewery was located at 44-46 Garrison Lane in Baltimore, where it was brewed the surpassing 'Deutsches Beer," "XXX Porter" and "Pale Beer".  The product of the brewery was rightly called 'Ye Old Steil Beer’ because that is exactly what it was; the kind of beer that tastes like beer ought to taste, and is as pure as beer ought to be.  The Steil Brewery was one of the very up-to-date beer making plants in the country, thoroughly sanitary and equipped with the latest machinery.  It has been said that after you once drink "Ye Old Steil Beer" all the 'New style beers’ become old style to your palate-it is just that superior to others in purity and flavor....source:  Old Advertisement.

**Special thanks to Mark Duerr for the mounds of information provided on Steil Brewing and the Steil family.

Hermann Henry Hoblemann (9-25-1835 to )

Mr. Hoblemann was  President and Treasurer of the Wehr-Hoblemann- Gottlieb Brewing and Malting Company, of Baltimore.  He was born at Osnabruck, Hanover, Germany, the son of the John Henry and Anna Regina (Schroeder) Hoblemann, both natives of Hanover.  The elder Hoblemann was a miller at Osnabruck, and the descendant of a number of generations, the senior male of each of which pursued the same vocation at the same place.   Hermann H. Hoblemann received some years" schooling at the Osnabruck Gymnasium and then, after taking a commercial course, entered his father's business. At the age of eighteen he came to the United States and settled down in Baltimore, where he found employment with Charles D. Slingluff & Son, wholesale grocers and commission merchants.  He remained in their employ for six years as a shipping clerk.  In 1860 he established his own retail grocery business at 72 Conway Street.  Here he stayed for five years and then entered the wholesale liquor business with a facility at 59 S. Charles Street. He kept this until May 1886, when he took an eighteen month hiatus to visit Germany.  Upon his return to Baltimore, he devoted all of his time exclusively to the malting business of Wehr, Hoblemann & Gottlieb, with which firm he became associated in 1880.

A brewing business was added in 1888 corporately named, ‘Wehr-Hoblemann-Gottlieb Brewing and Malting Company’ (ultimately Globe Brewing).  Mr. Hoblemann was the president and treasurer.   The brewing plant had a capacity of 120,000 barrels per annum : its output the first year was 32,000 barrels, and last in 1896 56,000 barrels.

Mr. Hoblemann's provided services to many organizations, among them, he was on the Board of the German Fire Insurance Company and the German Bank of Baltimore. 

He was married in 1862 to Mary Mormann, the daughter of another Hanover, Germany native, who settled in Baltimore. She died in 1885, leaving five children: Mary (Thies); Joanna (Hoblemann); Lisette (Hennighausen); Maggie (Koenig) and Frederick.  He married again in 1887 to Alma Fuerste, also the daughter of a Hanover native.  There was one child born to this marriage, Hermann A. Hoblemann.  The family lived at 19 E. Pratt Street and were members of Zion Lutheran Church. 

Phoenix Brewery - Werner, Henry

Wiessner Brewery

U.S. the following year with enough money to open his brewery.  The original brewery was founded in 1863 and was small. It was located at First (Highland) and Eastern Avenues and was called the George F. Weissner's Fort Marshall Brewery.  The output approximately 1500 barrels of lager beer per year.  According to Baltimore:  It’s Past and Present-A Souvenir program for the U.S. Brewer’s Assn in 1887, an ad for Wiessner’s said they produced 40,000 bottles).   He leased a little over 2 acres.   He was able to build the brewery on funds extended by Levi and Henry Straus.  He built a three story brewery on this site in this predominantly German neighborhood.  From the early photos there was a boiler room with a stack, which would mean that he used steam to cook the mash, unlike the other breweries at the time, which were still using the copper cookers.  The early brewery had nine employees.  The site itself had a beer garden, saloon and picnic ground.  It was later extended to include a bowling alley, dancing pavilion and merry-go-round. The site also had an ice house, stables and storage building.  The brewery featured a giant cast pewter statue of Gambrinus, the patron of beer (now at the Maryland Historical Society-2003).  At the time there were approximately twenty one other brewers operating in Baltimore and the surrounding areas.  It was located down the road from the George Rost Brewery, where he had worked upon his arrival in the U.S.  The local community was named Highland Town and when annexed by Baltimore City in 1918, renamed Highlandtown.  Prior to a meeting held at Weissner's in 1870, the area was known as Snake Hill. 

He was the first and only brewmaster.  He married Sarah Rupprecht on July 5, 1858.  His son John, Jr. left at the age of 15 to learn brewing from the Ringler Brewery in New York.  He returned at the age of 17, a Master Brewer and was taken into partnership with his father in 1882.  At that time, the output was approximately 20,000 barrels per year.  In 1885 John Neumeister came from Bavaria to Baltimore to become the Weissner family brewmaster.  The first refrigeration was installed at the brewery in 1885.  By 1886/87, the business had outgrown their facility and an extensive enlargement was started.  A new five story brewery was build with three wooden towers was built at Belair (now Gay).  At that time another competitor, George Bauernschmdit began building his new facility, as was George Rost (Standard Brewery).  After the new brewery began production, John F., and John F., Jr., took the other sons, Henry and George into the business.  John F. operated it for 34 years until his death. 

At the time of his death John F., Jr., was named president.   Building continued on the site because the Weissner family believed in the custom of housing his workers, which were mostly German immigrants.  In 1897, the brewery was incorporated as the John F. Weissner & Sons Brewing Company.  By 1899, the brewery was again faced with the need for expansion, largely because the company began bottling their own products in 1886.  

Plans for expansion were announced on March 5, 1899 in the Sunday Herald.  A four story warehouse was built of brick with a capacity of 100,000 barrels.  The brewery was built in Gothic-German design.   The property contained the highest tower which held 10,000 lbs. of grain.   The first Schuetzen Club was started here.

It was at this time that a competitor, the Maryland Brewing Company, was attempting to buy all the breweries in the area.  Weissner did not sell to the Maryland Brewering Company or the other large trust, the Gottlieb, Bauernschmidt, Straus trust, and continued operating, which turned out to be a good decision.  By 1901, the brewery had increased its capacity to 150,000 barrels.  John F., Jr. died on September 22, 1906 and his brother George succeeded him as President.  The Weissner Family were very generous and it is said that John, who was chief of the volunteer fire company, left his home at Eastern and Highland Avenue in his will, to be used as an orphanage.  George and Henry continued the family business and the production reached 110,000 barrels by 1919.  This was the year before prohibition and the year they were forced to close their doors.  They made attempts at ‘near beer’ and attempts to reopen, but did not succeed.  The property was sold in 1931 to the American Brewery Company.  The malt company made a malt syrup that brewers could use.  After prohibition, the American Malt Company brewed 'American Pilsener', an award winning pils.  It was later sold to the Allegany Brewery.

The brewery was abandoned in 1973 and sat vacant for some time.  It is now been totally renovated (by Humana) and is used for offices.  Many of the original fixtures, however, remain. 

Brewers (1850 Merc. Directory)

Brewers and Distillers.

Coughlan William, cor. E. Av. and Exeter.

Hazlehurst & Phalen, (distillers) Holliday near Bath.

Herman F., 151 Franklin.

Hofman Conrad, 53 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Krien J., (distiller) 81 Harrison.

Medtart, Jacob C., 312 Saratoga.

Schlott C., (distiller) 346 Saratoga.

Wanzger ----, 129 Camden.

Wantz H., (distiller) 140 Franklin.

White Henry, (distiller) Holliday near Centre

The 13 years of Prohibition left fewer than half of the pre-Prohibition breweries to reopen.  More and more 'out of state' breweries were shipping beer to Maryland.

Surviving breweries in the 1940s included Arrow, Free State, Gunther, American, Weissner’s and National. 

Local beer gardens:  Muth’s Riverview, Carlin’s Park, Seeger’s, Beck’s, Prospect Park. 

[1] The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was caused by railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures. Compounding market overbuilding and a railroad bubble was a run on the gold supply and a policy of using both gold and silver metals as a peg for the US Dollar value.