South Germantown Village Tour
Scene 2 of 8

See Scene 3 of 8 for additional South Germantown village tour information or Scene 1 of 8 to go back one page. To see the Germantown Picture Gallery, go here.

On Fond du Lac at Pleasent Hill Avenue
(Heading Northwest To Freistadt Road)

William and Carolina Kraetsch Home

Kraetsch Residence: southwest corner Pleasant Hill and Fond du Lac; 1930, William and Carolina Kraetsch and son Friedrich.

Arnold and Emma Kannenburg Home

Kannenberg Residence: east side, north of Kraetsch; Arnold and Emma Kannenberg with children Mabel, Harold, and Ruth.

Paul and Olive Gehl Homd

Gehl Residence: west side, north of Fredric Kraetsch; 1940s, Paul and Olive (Zeihm) Gehl Jr.

Norbert and Edna Gierach Home

Gierach Residence: west side, north of Paul Gehl; 1930 Andrew and Anna Gierach; 1940s, Norbert and Edna Gierach.

Herbert and Gladys (Yacks) Brandenburg Home

Brandenburg Residence: west side, north of Gierach; a log cabin home, since weatherized. Ernst and Lydia (Beuscher) Brandenburg and children Albert and Herbert. Dave Westenberger relates that the log cabin originally was the home of the patentee settler Jacob Schlaefer. The Brandenburg family bought this property in 1911 and lived there for 66 years. They were told the house was moved there from up the hill. The 1873 plat map shows the only house on the Schlaefer homestead was located where Joe Schmitz lived on top the hill along Pilgrim Road. Picture of family members can be seen here.

Meyer Residence: not shown; west side, north of Brandenburg; 1930, Lewis and Emma (Heublein) Meyer and daughter Agnes. A picture of family members can be seen here.

Schwartz Store

Tavern/Emergency Grocery Store: northeast corner Main and Fond du Lac; Matthew and Anna Schwartz; originally A.P. Weber Saloon. Pictured in the book GERMANTOWN The Early Years 1838 - 1915, page 59.

Gierach Garage, 1999

Garage/Snack Restaurant northwest corner Fond du Lac and Main; "Greasy Spoon", Louis Kannenburg, later Norbert Gierach's; per Dan Sennott "he had a garage and a single gasoline pump that you had to pump the gasoline up into the upper part of the pump and gravity would then let it flow into your car. In the middle 1930s, there was a small restaurant in the same building."

Buckta's Tavern

Buckta's Tavern: north of garage.

Lime Quarry: not pictured, both sides of the road; north just beyond incline. The Quarries have been filled in.

William and Ruth (Hornig) Holl Home

Holl Residence: east side, north of quarry; William and Ruth (Hornig) Holl and daughters Esther and Mary Ellen. The house was rebuilt in 1929 after being destroyed by fire the cause of which was road blasting which caused the furnace pipe to dislodge. William and Ruth are buried in St. John United Cemetery, Kuhburg. Information and picture shared by Esther (Holl) Schowalter. A picture of William and Ruth can be seen here. A biographical sketch of the Holl family can be seen here.

Old Foundation: On the southwest corner of Church and Fond du Lac there existed in the 1940/50s an old cement and field stone building foundation. The building first showed up on the 1915 plat map which also had a building opposite it on the north side of the road on house properties owned in 1950s by Habermacher and Schulteis. Fond du Lac Road was shown to have run directly between the two buildings. Probably Mat. Steger's barn. Esther (Holl) Schowalter, who as a child lived across the street, remembers the small barn which was removed about 1941.

          Oliver and Ann (Siegl) Schulteis Home

Schulteis Residence: east side, north of Holl, at Church Street; 1943, Oliver and Ann (Siegl) Schulteis with children Oliver, Donald, Marilyn, Monica, and Judy; Oliver and Ann are buried in St. Boniface Cemetery, Goldendale. Pictures of Oliver and Ann can be seen here.

Joe and Mary (Kosterman) Habermacher Home

Habermacher Residence: east side, north of Oliver and Ann Schulteis; north of Melvin and Edna Seyfert; corner of Church and Fond du Lac; 1940s; Joseph and Mary (Kosterman) Habermacher; Joe and Mary are buried in St. Boniface Cemetery, Goldendale.

Melvin and Edna (Heinrich) Seifert Home

Seifert Residence: northwest corner Church and Fond du Lac; Melvin and Edna Seifert with childrem Wesley, Marsha and Douglas. Melvin and Edna are buried in Christ Evangelical Cemetery, Dheinsville.

Seifert Electric

Seifert Electric: west side, north of family residence; directly across from Joe and Mary; 1940s; Habermacher's home;

Gas Station/Restaurant: not pictured; southeast corner Fond du Lac and Broadway; after 1930, owned and operated by Joseph and Mary (Kosterman) Habermacher

Schwalbach Homestead

Schwalbach Homestead: located east side, on top the hill past Park Avenue is the homestead home of John William and Anna (Doering) Schwalbach. In the 1950s, the building was owned by the Schneider family who had a pony. John and Anna Schwalbach are buried in St. Boniface Cemetery, Goldendale. A biographical sketch of the Schwalbach family can be found here.

Old Foundation: In the 1940/50s there existed a cement/field stone foundation just north of the Schwalbach homestead on the west side of Fond du Lac. Plat maps show this building existing in 1873 and at the time owned by Valentin Staats; identified as a saloon. It is believed the building existed and was used after 1930.

Staats-Reingruber-Hilgendorf-Vogel Brewery

The Staats/Vogel Brewery: was located southeast of the northeast corner of Freistadt and Fond du Lac Roads. In the late 1940s there was foundation remnants of a dairy barn across the street (west) from the brewery. Would suspect the barn was in operation not that many years before.

See Scene 3 of 8 for additional South Germantown village tour information or Scene 1 of 8 to go back one page. To see the Germantown Picture Gallery, go here.