Written by Peter Fauerbach
My
branch of the Fauerbach family is from Bavaria, home to some of the best
tasting beers in the world. Europe was a mess during the early 19th
century, so many younger Europeans came to America where they could live free
from religious and political influence. Peter Fauerbach, our great-great
grandfather, 1830 – 1886, came to Brooklyn, N.Y., with a group of relatives
in 1848. Other important brewing families in this group included the Haertels
and the Bierbauers who were among the earlier American brewers in the 1850’s.
In Bavaria, Peter married Marie Haertel, sister to Karl Haertel. Karl Haertel
opened a brewery in Portage in 1851. Karl was a very giving person who helped
those in need in Portage, and helped other brewing families like the
Hausmanns, the Fauerbachs, the Bierbauers, and the Sprechers. These families
collectively established large enterprises for their time and all became
essential to their communities from 1848 – 1966.
Here is a list of their breweries and connections to each other.
| 1) Frederick Adam Sprecher, brewer, Madison, Wisconsin 1848, brother-in-law to Karl Haertel; the first to brew beer at the future site of the Fauerbach Brewery. | |
 |
2) Karl Haertel Portage, brewer, Wisconsin 1851, married to Barbara Hollenbach, brother–in-law to Frederick Sprecher. Karl’s daughter Elizabeth married Jacob Best Jr. the son of a large Milwaukee brewer. Barbara Hollenbach's sister married Frederick Sprecher. This is the Haertel - Fauerbach - Sprecher connection. |
| 3) Louis Bierbauer, brewer, Bierbauer Brewery, Utica, New York on the Erie Canal, brother to Henry and Wilhelm Bierbauer, also brewers. | |
| 4) Wilhelm Bierbauer, brewer, Mankato, Minnesota, 1837, was a Minnesota pioneer | |
| 5) Henry Bierbauer, brewer, Utica, and then New Lisbon, Wisconsin, mayor, hardware store owner, roller mill operator, businessman; married to Barbara Fauerbach, sister to Peter Fauerbach; partner to Peter Fauerbach in the brewing business. | |
 |
6) Peter Fauerbach, brewer, Brooklyn, Portage, New Lisbon, Madison, Wisconsin, brother-in-law to Henry Bierbauer and Karl Haertel; married Maria Haertel. Bought Sprecher brewery and renamed it Fauerbach brewery in 1868. The Brewery stayed in the family until 1966. The Fauerbach family owned a Pepsi-cola franchise in Madison and one in Fox Lake/Beaver Dam. Other properties included the Avenue/Monona Hotel, the Hotel Germania at Blair and Wilson, and 65 properties that would eventually help them survive 13 years of prohibition. |
 |
7) Carl Hausmann, brewer, Freeport,
Illinois (Yellow Creek Brewery), Portage (Haertel Brewery), and
Madison, Wisconsin, was a foreman for Carl Haertel; went to New Lisbon
and built the first brewery there, preceding Peter Fauerbach and Henry
Bierbauer; took over the Frederick Sprecher operation in Madison
after Frederick died; partnered with Matthias Breckheimer another
Madison brewer, then bought Edward Voigt’s Capitol Steam Brewery on
State and Gorham. Later he renamed it Hausmann Brewery.
Carl and his family were large benefactors to Madison giving land such
as Tenney Park, and the area on Sherman Avenue that used to be the
Rodermund Mill, Brewery and Dry Goods Store. |
 |
8) Edward Voigt, brewer, Madison Wisconsin, moved to Detroit where he started Rheingold Brewery- a large national brewery. |
The
Fauerbach Brewery survived several “Dry” spells in addition to 13 years of
national prohibition, only to fall victim in the end to it’s own industry
counterparts and the underlying alcohol taxation system. The Brewery was
located right on the no-saloon dry zone, a ½ mile radius from the Capitol.
Several attempts to clean up the filthy saloons where men smoked cigars and
drank beer where tried before national prohibition.
How
the brewing industry changed by advances in technology and by the national
brands! While the Fauerbach Brewery and other small local breweries were
not true peers of the leading brewers in terms of volume or marketing methods,
they deserve much admiration and respect. In the Fauerbach Brewery a sign
read: “The largest of the small breweries in Spirit." At
the peak, the Brewery had 21 trucks on the road delivering over 75 thousand
barrels of beer per year.
Other than surviving as a brewery, the Brewery had a number of firsts, some of which make it unique:
1)
Blue ribbons for their beer.
2)
Blue ribbons for their draft horses.
3)
In 1906, the Brewery had installed a water system to flush spittoons so
bartenders did not need to do handle them.
4)
First business in town to install refrigeration utilities.
5)
Largest user of natural gas in Dane County.
6)
First brewery to use a locomotive train engine to provide steam to heat the
kettles while the new boiler was being installed after prohibition
ended.
7)
Home of the National Champion (1914 – 1928) A-Class Iceboat, Princess II,
captained by Emil Fauerbach.
The Fauerbach Brewery originally sold their beer locally, occasionally sending their EXPORT beer beyond southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois by rail. Time and distance were limitations to a brewers range before pasteurization; pasteurized meant beer could last over 6 months. But beer taste suffers from pasteurization and prolonged periods, even today. Once pasteurization equipment was in place, the Fauerbachs expanded their range.
The
Fauerbach Brewery location was, before improved roads, the central hub of the
city from a transportation perspective. Nearly all farm and industrial
supplies moved into Madison from the East to their location. The ridge road
around the north end of Lake Monona was the major route into the city from the
East. At the end of this road was the Fauerbach Brewery. This location was
helpful with distribution and onsite sales. At first horse drawn wagons,
carried keg beer to points in the county on dirt roads. The Brewery grew as
Madison’s population grew and as trucks became the mode of transporting
beer. Refrigeration was still a barrier until 1906. The Fauerbach Brewery had
an icehouse on the shore of its location on Lake Monona from 1848 until
1917.
Madison
was an ice Mecca before refrigeration equipment was available. Ice was
harvested from the abundant city lakes from both sides of the narrow isthmus
and transported by rail to customers. The Brewery had it own need for ice and
hired a big crew each winter to harvest ice. Once refrigeration was in place,
the icehouse was used to store the world famous brewery iceboats and
sailboats.
 |
 |
Madison
had many small steamboats that took passengers on lake tours and to the picnic
grounds in the park across the lake. The launching sites typically had a
gazebo to keep passengers out of the sun and a plank pier for loading. The
Fauerbach Brewery pier was one of the more popular launch sites as you might
imagine. The lakefront of the Fauerbach Brewery provided much entertainment
and service to local community over the years: from steamboat rides, to
meetings of the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club, and scuba divers – who
occasionally find old steins, bottles, or mugs.
One
of several fascinating stories from Ray Bareis, born about
1900 and raised across the street from the Brewery, is that of childhood
memories of the lakefront side of the Brewery. The Brewery had a rail spur
between the icehouse and other buildings. In the open yard, coopers repaired
wooden kegs. Using two-handed wood shaving tools, they would shape replacement
staves for a broken keg. Once enough of these repaired kegs were ready, the
pitching machine would be turned on. This machine would pitch rosin like
material inside the barrel to seal it and protect the beer. The yard also had
a large wooden tank with thick sidewalls raised on legs that would allow its
contents to be dumped into a rail car. This was for broken glass from the
bottling operation. According to Ray, the gang initiation was to walk around
the top of the container in bare feet! Of course, “if you were caught by
Brewery employees, you got bounced back home.”
Brewing
is and was a hazardous business. From the days of unruly civil war soldiers
who came to Madison Camp Randall for training, to the days of temperance, the
family is proud of integrity and honesty that were the rule of the day in life
and in business. My grandfather, Karl Fauerbach, born in 1897 in the living
quarters of the brewery, wrote, “None of the Fauerbachs has been in court or
in jail- none has ever been arrested and quoting Judge Roy Procter ‘We are
in a hazardous business.’” Karl, who worked for 48 years, led the
Brewery through 13 very hard years of prohibition.
The
family commitment to employees is legendary in contrast to today. The
Fauerbach Brewery was the only union brewery in the city. There was never a
strike or a layoff when it was legal to produce beer. Even though
grandfather worked 48 years, he did not have the longest tenure. This record
belongs to Alfred Christensen, 54 years. Of the 65 employees in 1956, 4 had
over 40 years, 6 more had over 30 years, 4 more had over 20 years, and 8 had
over 15 years. Today the average American worker can expect to be fired once
and to be out of work for over 6 months in their working years.
 |
Art
was an important aspect of the Brewery and in beer marketing and
advertising. The Fauerbach bar room was a friendly and warm place with
murals, stained glass windows, wood paneling, Italian marble, and a
beautiful white oak bar with a golden hue. The Brewery had a 10-foot
by 16-foot ceiling fresco of “The Seven Lively Arts” painted by
Bernhard Schneider, a painter for the American Panorama Company. |
 |
When
the Fauerbach bar was open, the bartenders served delicious fresh draft beer
for a nickel and provided free sandwiches for patrons. It was the favorite
place to be in Madison after a long day of work. On parade days and for other
large city events, the bar was open and free. It was a place where friends
from the mayor, fire and police chief to the neighborhood patrons could enjoy
a good conversation and relax
If
you wanted to brew beer in Madison, you needed to be prepared because:
·
The Brewery was only 70 miles from the beer capitol of the world.
·
Seven times
between 1901 and 1918, Madison residents voted to register their views on
alcohol.
·
Breweries had a 30-percent excise tax on sold products.
For
the Fauerbach Brewery to brew beer as long as they did under existing
conditions at least indicates a true devotion to their business. “Since 1848”
takes on a new meaning. It is not a contest among peers to be able to say who
started brewing first. Rather it is a term that underscores the tenacity and
pride of the families who were local beer merchants.
