"We Are Here To Stay" was the first advertisement for Leidiger's Gesundheit beer when it was published on May 19, 1896 in the Merrill Advocate. Announcing the grand opening of the Leidiger Brewing Company in Merrill, Wisconsin, this claimed advertisement was indeed accurate as the brewery itself produced beer for Merrill and most of Lincoln County in Wisconsin for 66 years. In the late 1890s, Merrill was located at the edge of the northwood frontier of Wisconsin. Miles north of Merrill, lumberjacks risked their lives for a $1 a day, carrying tons of freshly cut timber and rode the whitewater rapids of Wisconsin River, delivering the forest-grown logs to several saw mills in Merrill and Rhinelander. The constant lumbering work attracted men by the hundreds to Merrill, even a brewer named George Ruder who knew lumberjack wanted good beer. The demand for excellent beer would later attract brothers Ernest and Louis Leidiger to Merrill, who founded a brewery that would survive in the young German community in Lincoln County.
Ernest Leidiger was born in Milwaukee on February 4, 1857. When he was ten years old, his father died, leaving his mother with four small children, and the boy was forced to get work in a sawmill. He later learned the machinist trade and worked for $1.00 a week for six years. His older brother, Louis Leidiger, was born in Milwaukee on December 6, 1854. Louis was the first to get into the brewing business. At the age of thirteen years he started work at brewing in Sheboygan County, and remained there for two years. Louis would later gain more brewing experiences in Milwaukee in 1874; moved to Omaha, Nebraska, for the Brewer Bemis & Co., to superintend their brewery and remained there until 1876; transferred to Sioux City, Iowa,for two years as brewery foreman; then returned to Milwaukee through 1879.
The Sturgeon Bay Brewery
Louis Leidiger planned to manage and operate his own brewery. Louis and his younger brother, Ernest, raised $200 in cash and purchased the a brewery in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1879. The two Leidiger brothers rented the small brewery building from the Wagner Brothers and produced an average of 800 barrels of lager beer each year.
By 1887, Ernest was suffering with health problems which forced the Leidiger brothers to sell their business to the Hagemeister Company of Green Bay, who operated the brewery until Prohibition. Ernest briefly moved to Milwaukee and then back to Sturgeon Bay for five years engaging in the retail shoe business with his brother-in-law, Gustav Pfeifer. While in the retail business, Ernest heard that Emil Ruder's brewery in Merrill was for sale. Realizing how much he missed the brewing business, he sold his interest in the shoe store and purchased the Ruder Brewery.
Move To Merrill
Emil Ruder had died of a heart attack on May 23, 1894, and the Ruder family sold the plant to Ernest Leidiger. Ernest couldn't operated the brewery by himself so he invited his brother and former partner, Louis, and another brother, Rudolph, in the new brewery enterprise. The original Leidiger brewery officers were: Rudolph Leidiger, President; Ernest Leidiger, Vice President; and Louis Leidiger, Secretary and Treasurer. Rudolph invested the majority of funds and lived in Milwaukee throughout the brewery's history.
The history of the Leidiger Brewing Company began in 1896 in a small frame building at the corner of River and Nast Streets in Merrill. The brewery was incorporated for $25,000 and engaged in the manufacturing of about 3,000 barrels of beer, hardly enough to take care of a good Leiderkranz Convention. The following year, Leidiger produced 4,000 barrels of beer. Over the next few years, the Leidigers invested another $25,000 to build larger facilities, ice making machines, and a building for its bottleworks. The building for the bottleworks was built in 1897 on the property west of the brewery. A new brick barn and warehouse with a tin roof were completed in the summer of 1897. Clifton, Love, and Combs did the construction work, while the Weiss Hardware Company provided the tin roof, both of Merrill.
Ernest Leidiger first home in Merrill, had a telephone installed. Leidiger's beers was so popular, Merrill saloon keepers would regularly call Ernest at home during off hours, requesting for more beer deliveries. When he moved into the former Emil Ruder home across the street from the brewery, he refused to have a telephone installed in the house for years as he didn't want his rest disturbed on holidays or weekends by these calls for odd hour deliveries.
The operation of the brewery continued the same until the death of Louis Leidiger in 1900. As Louis was a bachelor, his stock was transferred to his mother, Pauline Leidiger, who then assumed his position. Pauline immediately invested more money into the brewery. In 1901, improvements were made on the plant and another ice machine was installed. Some of the frame buildings were veneered with red brick and others replaced with solid brick structures with a total frontage of 100x100 feet. The brewery's addition helped increased production to 12,000 barrels a year. The April 15, 1903 United States Health Bulletin commended the Leidiger brewery for its pure product and attention to sanitary production.
Leidiger flagship brand before Prohibition was "Gesundheit." Gesundheit was Merrill's favorite brand during the pre-Prohibition era. Merrill's old time residents remember bringing their families to the brewery on Saturday afternoons and have a few schooners of beer with guests. The fresh beer was poured out of oak barrels in the brewery's Rathskeller. Little copper mugs were hung alongside of schooners so that children could enjoy some of Leidiger's beer.
Others recall the brewery had a large steam engine that ran the pumps and compressors. It was a very noisy plant as employees heard steam rattling and snapping through the pipes. Every Monday, Leidiger had their beer barrels pitched.
The Leidiger family was quite wealthy in their day. They traveled the world and knew some of society's elite. Ernest was involved with many businesses in Merrill and the surrounding area. He was a stockholder in the Ollhoff Lumber Company, the Merrill Knitting Company, each of the three banks in Merrill, and was one of the original stockholders in the Merrill Veneer Co., whose plant was later destroyed by fire. In addition to these business interest, he owned a farm west of Merrill. The Leidiger mansion was located across the street from the brewery (it is still there today). The house was built with red brick and the interior windows and doorways were framed with hand carved wood.
Louis G. Leidiger
In 1912, Ernest Leidiger became President of the brewery and continued as General Manager until his death in July 1922. Ernest's son, Louis G. Leidiger, became Secretary, Treasurer and Manager of the brewery. Louis G. Leidiger was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1882. Louis G. grew up in Sturgeon Bay and attended school there and in Milwaukee. He took a course at a business college and later attended the Wehl-Henius Institute of Fermentology school in Chicago, from which he was graduated with a full knowledge of all branches of the brewing business. It was in 1900 when he became connected with the Leidiger brewery and acted as its superintendent after his uncle, Louis, passed away.
Prohibition
When Prohibition came to Wisconsin in 1920, the brewery switched to the manufacture of cereal beverages and all kinds of soft drinks. Louis G. Leidiger promised Lincoln County and himself that he would help bring the Repeal of the 18th Amendment and got involved with State Politics.
Three years after Ernest's death, on March 1, 1925, Louis G. Leidiger sold the Leidiger bottling operations to Harry Hawley and pursued his career in politics. Leidiger's brewery continued to manufactured near beer throughout most of Prohibition.
Politics
Louis G. Leidiger rode the Democrat ticket throughout his political career. He was on the Lincoln County Board 1917-1922 (Chairman in 1921) and was elected first term legislature in 1932 where he served as Chairman Excise & Fees, Conservation Committee.
Louis G. Leidiger completed one term as Assemblyman for Lincoln County. In 1932, Louis G. Leidiger launched his campaigned by promoting "He will return real beer to Wisconsin. " By public interest, this campaign helped him win his one and only term as Assemblyman. During his four-year term, Louis G. Leidiger was credited for two bills in Wisconsin. The first was repossession of funds for a main highway in Lincoln County and the second was the Leidiger Beer Bill.
Repeal
Louis G. Leidiger kept his promise, the Repeal of the 18th Amendment happened in 1933. On March 21, 1933, with congressional approval of the 3.2 beer bill, the Leidiger brewery was making ready for the resumption of a business that was halted thirteen years ago by National Prohibition.
Harry Hawley and Louis G. Leidiger merged both the Merrill Brewery and the Leidiger Beverage companies as the Leidiger Brewing Company. August Oppert, who was the original brewmaster during the old Leidiger Brewing Company days, was back on the job and directing a crew of ten men busy making last minute preparations for the start of operations which was taken by April 4, 1933. Leidiger was one of the first six breweries in Wisconsin to receive a brewing permit in after Prohibition.
The Leidiger Beer Bill
When beer was brought back in 1933, many breweries were using cheaper ingredients and price gouging to take advantage of the new demand for real beer. Wisconsin Assemblymen Budlong and Rohan, charged the Wisconsin breweries were obtaining excessive prices for beer in an attempt to make back in one year what they lost in 14 years of Prohibition. Rohan also said the beer brewed in 1933 was worse than dishwater.
Assemblyman Theisen, charged that beer was sold to tavern keepers for as much as $17 a barrel and that the average price was $16. Others contended that pre-Prohibition beer was distributed at prices from $3.50 to $6 a barrel, which included a $1 federal tax.
"Congress let us have beer because the people wanted it," Budlong said, "not for the benefit of brewers. Now we should let them have it for 5 cents a glass."
Leidiger added, "It was futile for the State to attempt to fix the price of [beer] a luxury when it could not regulate the price of milk, a necessity."
With the help of several other Assemblymen, Louis G. Leidiger introduced the Leidiger Beer Bill. The original bill contained the following amendments:
1) - No Beer Can Be Sold To Any Person Under 18 Years of Age
2) - Breweries are required to use wooded barrels rather than steel barrels or other material
3) - All breweries to use at least 75 per cent barley malt in the manufacturing of beer.
4) - Breweries can not own saloons
5) - Tavern operators must have Wisconsin-made cheese on hand at all times
6) - Bottled beer must be sold at a price equivalent to $12 a barrel.
7) - Beer may be sold for consumption in "barless" taverns and retailed in bottles and other containers in stores.
8) - Beer is prohibited for sale within 200 feet of schools
The final Leidiger Beer Bill passed on June 1 1933 by Wisconsin Legislation was...
Louis G. Leidiger completed his one-term as Assemblyman and returned to his brewery in Merrill. For the next ten years, Leidiger Brewing Company had been distributing their beers to the people of Lincoln County, taking a big part in their community, group picnics and spreading good fellowship at private parties. Since Merrill's community was predominantly German, it was inevitable that people wanted and expected good beer. Leidiger Brewing Company enjoyed the next 10 years and production continued to grow. By 1942, Leidiger was producing over 50,000 barrels of beer each year. This didn't last very long. By 1942, Ernest's health was starting to fail until he passed away on May 23, 1943. Ernest's surviving son had other career plans and did not continue the brewery. The Leidiger family had other interests in Merrill such as banking, lumber companies and even a mink farm. The Leidigers sold the brewery to A.A. Wenzel in Milwaukee who later sold it to Joseph Gesell and Adam Schmaltz the following year.
Brewery Sold Several Times
During the next two years during several ownerships, the Leidiger Brewing Company production started to drop drastically. On May 4, 1945, Alex G. Tankenoff, the owner of the Bloomer Brewing Company in Bloomer, Wisconsin, needed to increase his brewery's output during the period when the U.S. government placed a grain usage quota after World War II. Al Tankenoff purchased the Leidiger brewery from Joseph Gesell and Adam Schmaltz and used to brewery to increase his Buckingham Ale and Beer brands. Tankenoff also discontinued retail sales at the brewery, made sales to taverns and package stores on a wholesale basis, canceled all deliveries outside the city of Merrill, and closed the Antigo distribution branch.
Alex Tankenoff was well-known for purchasing equipment from closed breweries, and not for their brand labels. Among the brewery equipment purchased, he bought: Arcadia Brewing Co. (1933-1949); People's Brewing Co., Duluth (1933-1957); Delta Brewing Co., Escanaba (1933-1940); Million Brewery, Inc., and New Lisbon (1937-1941) The only brewery Alex decided to keep open was the Leidiger brewery in Merrill.
In 1947, Alex Tankenoff decided to get out of the brewing business and closed both the Bloomer and Leidiger breweries. Immediately, a group of 15 investors from Bloomer and Merrill, Val Geisler, Lynn Peterson, and Bob Forill, (all from the Bloomer brewer) offered to buy the breweries from Alex Tankenoff. Tankenoff tried to talk them out of buying the brewery and warned them of national brewers such as Jos. Schlitz was going to put them out of business in the 1950s. The investors disagreed and bought the Leidiger brewery from Tankenoff anyways. The Leidiger brewery was producing a capacity of 30,000 barrels of beer, which is about half of what has been produced in Bloomer. The investors felt optimistically on the brewery's future and William Natzke became the brewery's new President.
Alex Tankenoff 's prediction occurred the following year. Rhinelander, (Schoen's) Wausau and especially Schlitz brewery brands were introduced in Merrill and would eventually take over Leidiger's accounts. The last ditch effort by Leidiger was the introduction of Lincoln Lager during the fall of 1947. Unfortunately, the Merrill community would not buy it and brewery lost its local support. Realizing his short comings, William Natzke didn't see any future for the Leidiger brewery and resigned as President in 1948. He returned to his prosperous lumbering business in Merrill and the last President of the Leidiger Brewing Company was Lincoln County Highway Commissioner, Herman Kuehling, whose main responsibility was overseeing the closing of the brewery.
Final Closing of Leidiger
Hardly no one noticed the brewery had gone out of business, except for the local farmers who purchased spent grain and cases of Leidiger beer for the thrashing crew that worked on the farms during the summers. Leidiger Brewing Company quickly faded into history. The small breweries that took over Leidiger's accounts would eventually meet the same fate 15 years later when national competitors such as Theodore Hamm, Pabst and Heileman forced almost all the remaining small breweries in Wisconsin to go out of business. After the brewery closed, Leidiger's buildings laid idle, crumbling by the late 1950s until it was razed in the early 1960s.
The only remains of the Leidiger Brewing Company are the bottling building and the Leidiger Mansion. The bottling building still features a soft drink trade character named "Flip" who once advertised soft drinks during the Prohibition years. The Leidiger mansion, on the other hand, has been preserved and is currently lived in by a Merrill resident.
Ending
Leidiger Brewing Company survived for 66 years and was a major contributor to the Merrill community in Wisconsin. Once enjoyed by lumberjacks, German immigrants, farmers and even regional politicians, Leidiger had an important role in preserving Merrill's heritage.
One item of interest with the Leidiger brewery occurred in the early 1970s. In 1971, the owner of the Leidiger house decided to remodel the mansion's interior to the way it would have been when the Leidiger family lived there. During the restoration, workers uncovered a number of scrap books and photo albums tucked away inside the walls, apparently left by the Leidiger family preserving their history for future generations. When the Leidiger home was later sold, the proceeds went to fund a scholarship at the Merrill High School for seniors to attend college.