Joseph Schlitz

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Joseph Schlitz

Joseph Schlitz

During the fabled Gilded Age, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company built an amusement park, hotel, palm garden and an opera house, with all of them serving “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous.” Ironically, the dynamic CEO who built the brewery from scratch didn’t live long enough to see his company become a world-wide institution.

The Schlitz Brewing Company’s seed was planted in 1849 in a tiny lunchroom at Fourth and Juneau. Proprietor August Krug served German meals and brewed small batches of German beer behind the kitchen. His father, Georg Krug, came to America with $800 in gold to expand his son’s operation. Georg also brought his eight-year-old grandson, August Uihlein. Krug now employed three men and was producing two dozen barrels of beer a week when Joseph Schlitz, a 20-year-old bookkeeper, asked for a job. As the plant manager, Schlitz doubled the amount of beer made each month. When August Krug died unexpectedly in 1856, Schlitz married his widow and assumed complete control of the brewery which now bore his name. 

In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed more than 17,000 buildings in 48 hours and left 100,000 people without a home. Prior to the fire, 40 breweries produced one million gallons of beer a year. As reconstruction pf the city commenced, beer was just one of the commodities not readily available. Sensing an unprecedented ability to increase their respective market shares, Schlitz, Pabst, Miller and Blatz provided all the beer Chicago residents could drink. 

In 1875, the 45-year-old Joseph Schlitz sailed to Germany on business and never returned. The SS Schiller sank in a violent storm near Sicily, taking the lives of more than 300 passengers. Per his instructions, the brewery management passed to August Uihlein and his brothers Henry, Alfred, and Edward, thus keeping the Krug bloodline within the corporation. When Anna Maria Krug Schlitz passed away in 1887, the Uihlein family inherited everything and guided Joseph Schlitz’s brewery into the 20th century. Under August Uihlein’s presidency, beer sales soared, and a significant amount of company money was invested in real estate as well as public entertainment venues that sold their beers.

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Schlitz Park - 1879

In 1857, Senator Charles Quentin developed land at Eighth and Walnut Streets into a park with a theater and beer garden. When Schlitz bought the property, they added an opera house, vaudeville theater, beer gardens, restaurants and family-friendly amusements. Bands and orchestras provided popular music of the day at gazebos and bandshells. A three-story observation tower built atop a large hill offered a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city. The acreage was landscaped with walkways, gardens and fountains that enhanced the guest experience. In 1909 Schlitz sold the park to the city for $75,000.

Schlitz Hotel - 1889

The Schlitz Hotel, on the southeast corner of Third and Wisconsin, was formally opened to the public in August. Although it operated for 31 years, the hotel always played second fiddle to the Blatz, St. Charles, or Kirby House hotels across from City Hall. Gambler and sportsman Frank Mulkern owned the famous newsstand in the lobby, Schlitz closed the hotel during Prohibition and tore it down.

Schlitz Palm Garden - 1896

The brewery spent $125,000 to build a German palm garden that drew visitors from all over the world. It opened June 6, 1896, and grossed a million dollars a year. The capacity was 900 people and manager August Pleiss estimated that 10,000 customers a week passed through the doors. It was a favorite place for entertainers Eddie Foy and George M. Cohan when they were in town. Politicians William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson campaigned here, the latter putting the Palm Garden out of business in 1921. The following year it was remodeled into the Garden movie theater until it closed in 1963.

Uihlein Theater (Alhambra) - 1896

The six-story office building with a 3,000-seat theater was built for $500,000, It was quickly renamed the Alhambra because people had trouble pronouncing the name Uihlein. Al Jolson, the Four Cohans, Enrico Caruso, Theda Bara and Sarah Bernhardt were among the stars that performed here in the early 20th century. By 1950 the Alhambra was reduced to playing sub-standard films until it was torn down in 1961.

Tivoli Palm Garden - 1901

Schlitz’s Tivoli Palm Garden brought the elegance of a Downtown beer hall to the German neighborhoods on the city’s South Side. At different times the hall offered billiard tables, a bowling alley, and a buffet-style German restaurant. When Prohibition ended, the building became home to myriad businesses until the Milwaukee Ballet Company moved in from 1981 through 2019. 

It was believed that all passengers aboard the SS Schiller perished from hypothermia or drowning. Schlitz’s body was never recovered, but his monument at Forest Home Cemetery is a cenotaph that honors a person whose remains are located elsewhere. Joseph Schlitz’s iconic brand of beer is still in existence and is available from the Pabst Brewing Company.