THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
ADS - From Newspapers
8C. HEIDELBERG BREWERY (1934-1949)
Becoming Bavarian Plant No. 2 (1949-1954; Sold in 1956)
Albeit relatviely brief, Heidelberg Brewery had a plethora of brands and an interesting background before it was acquired by Bavarian Brewing Co., as discussed in the following.
HISTORY OF HEIDELBERG BREWING CO.
After Prohibition, there was a pent-up demand for beer across the nation, and especially in cities like Cincinnati, with a strong beer tradition stemming from its German heritage. Nearly a dozen former breweries reopened in the Cincinnati area - mostly in former breweries with new ownerships and different brands. However, a few breweries opened in new buildings, including; Schoenling and Delatron in Cincinnati, and Heidelberg Brewing Co. in Covington, KY. The new brewery in Kentucky was located just several blocks south of the Bavarian Brewery.
1940s. Left, the Heidelberg Brewery at 500-520 4th St., Covington, KY
A Connection Between Heidelberg & Bavarian
Heidelberg Brewing Co. had a previous connection to Bavarian Brewing Co., because the brewmaster and a Director of Heidelberg, Joseph (Sep) Ruh was the son of the former brewmaster for Bavarian. Before Prohibition, Sep had worked with his father, Anton (Tony). He continued to be involved with this company when it was renamed the Riedlin Beverage Co. in 1918, in preparation to produce "near beer" and non-alcoholic beverages. In 1922 he became one of three Directors of the Riedlin Co. When this firm dissolved in 1925, the year Sep's father Tony passed away, the Sep's family acquired the former ice house property along with another family member (Ferdinand) and M. L. Galvin. (See period 5. The Riedlin Co.'s.)
Several years later, as Prohibition was being appealed in 1933, there were no experienced family heirs available to reopen the Bavarian Brewery. Not unlike other local breweries, the men in the Riedlin family who had owned and operated Bavarian before Prohibition had passed away. It's unclear whether Sep had a personal interest in reopening this brewery, but the men who began efforts to reestablish Bavarian were Leslie Deglow and Murray Voorhees (the husband of Riedlin's granddaughter). See period 6. The Reopening of the Brewery. Apparently, they had been having difficulty raising the capital necessary to reopen the brewery; whether Sep considered rejoining Bavarian with them is unknown. In any event - and possibly without any meaningful relations to the men who reopened Bavarian - Sep decided to become an owner and brewmaster of a new brewery, the Heidelberg Brewing Co.
The Formation of Heidelberg Brewing Co.
Heidelberg Brewing Co. was chartered on February 21, 1933, and issued $400,000 in capital stock at $1.00 par on June 12th at an offering price of $1.25, as shown by the accompanying exhibit. Heidelberg was established by George H. Meyerrathen, President and Joesph Ruh, Vice President and brewmaster, along with several local influential business leaders. The new brewery was constructed at the northwest corner of 4th and Bakewell Streets, with an address of 500 – 520 4th Street. Their building was a "compact brewery - five stories in height, with an original production capacity of 90,000 barrels annually (later increased to 125,00 barrels). Being new, it had certain advantages over older breweries, including a more modern and streamlined design and electric and gas power instead of coal and steam.
However, the new Heidelberg Brewery also had some drawbacks. There was no rail spur into the brewery and rail access was not exceptionally close, creating higher transportation costs for beer exported outside of the Cincinnati area. Also, its size was relatively small and production capabilities were relatively low for the time, making it more costly to operate. The site was also landlocked with no adjacent excess land that could be used for expansion. Further, its location was only a few blocks from the Ohio River, which was susceptible to overflowing and flooding the nearby area. In fact, only a few years after the brewery opened, the Great Flood of 1937 damaged Heidelberg's aging tanks and ruined much of its stored grains, preventing the brewery from operating for several months. Please see the accompanying photo that shows the brewery during this flood.
Mid 1930s -1940s. Left to right: the Heidelberg Brewery at 500-520 4th St., Covington, KY; a Student Prince truck in front of More Confectionery and a Student Prince Truck in front of Union Terminal in Cincinnati, OH.
10-2-1940. The stationary depicts the brands for the brewer in the far left margin.
Brands
Heidelberg’s flagship brand was Student Prince, named after an operetta that ran on Broadway for several years in the 1920s and it featured the popular "Drinking Song" theme in its performances. The musical had been adapted from a play entitled Alt (Old) Heidelberg written by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster (a/k/a Samar Gregorow), so both this brand and the name of the brewer were in the titles of the operetta and the play. Student Prince was offered as both a "Black Label" (Lager) and a "White Label" (Pilsener), as well as an ale. The brewer also brewed Bay Horse Ale and two other beers; a lager known as Heidelberg (or Heidelberg's) and a Pilsner called Heirloom of Bäden (also known as Bäden or Heirloom Beer), which won a gold medal in Paris during 1939. Bock Beer was also offered seasonally, in springtime. All of these brands were offered as draft in kegs and pasteurized in bottles; some were also offered as draft in bottles, unpasteurized. Despite being a small brewer, Heidelberg had more varieties of beers and ales than the larger local brewers, and even most national brewers. To dispense its draft beer in cafes, the brewer supplied beer tap markers for each of its brands, as shown below. They were referred to as beer ball knobs, due to their spherical shapes. (Please see Ball Knobs/Tap Markers.)
In addition to its own brands, Heidelberg also brewed beer under private labels for a distributor located in Lexington, KY. These brands were known as (Lexington) Hi-Time Beer, Good Tyme Beer and Bock Beer as well as Lexington Old Town Beer, Ale and Bock Beer. This distributor - the E. F. Prichard Company - provided its own formulas to produce these brands. Labels for the Heidelberg brands, including one for the E.F. Prichard, are presented below. There were also a wide variety of different label designs produced for Heidelberg, extending beyond those reproduced below. However, the labels displayed represent examples of all of Heidelberg's brands, and most of its varieties. A unique aspect of the Heirloom labels, which is different than nearly any other beer label, is that it acknowledges the brewmaster (Joseph Ruh, a/k/a Sep) along with his signature. Indeed, Heidelberg’s success may have been largely connected to its brewmaster, making his name a sign of high quality and an advertising asset. Sep’s noteworthy brewing skills had been developed while he was working with his father, the brewmaster at the Bavarian Brewery before Prohibition. When Ruh departed Heidelberg in 1945, as explained below, his decision likely left a negative impact on this brewer.
1934-1949: The Student Prince blue label is a "U-Permit" - one of the earliest Heidelberg labels. As shown Student Prince was offered as an Ale and Bock Beer. Student Prince was also offered as a "Black Label" and " White Label."
1934-1949: Labels for Heidelberg's other brands are: Student Prince White Label Pilsener Beer, Heirloom of Baden Beer, Heidelberg Beer and Bay Horse Ale. Lexington Old Town Ale was brewed for E.F. Pritchard.
Difficulties Encountered
The severe flood damage that Heidelberg suffered in 1937 was eventually mitigated, but it took several months before brewing processes could return to normal. This may have had some lingering impact upon their ability to expand their markets and reach their brewing capacity. It may also have explained why Heidelberg agreed to produce beer for a distributor, even though this would lower their margins in comparison to selling their own brands.
Flood damage aside, the main challenges for Heidelberg occurred after WWII. It may have simply not been feasible for a small brewery to be economically successful as other, larger breweries expanded and modernized. Efforts to make modest expansions at Heidelberg apparently sparked a disagreement among Board members. As a result, Joseph Ruh and his two sons, Carl and Anthony, who also worked at Heidelberg, decided to resign at the end of 1945. Carl would later become a Kentucky State Senator and he would also operate a brewer's supply house. Just several months later, however—in May 1946—their father Joseph Ruh died at the age of 67.
1940s: The images below include: a Student Prince sign, an Heirloom of Bäden sign, a tire cover for Student Prince, an Heirloom Beer coaster, a Student Prince coaster. Note: their actual size is much different from one another.
For the image of a Heidelberg beer barrel, please visit Bottles, Cases & Kegs.
1940s Matchcovers & Student Prince Pencil & Student Prince Crown.
By 1946, Heidelberg's Board composition had changed. Elmer C. Hake replaced Ruh as Vice President, while George Meyerrratken remained as President. The other Board members at that time were: Stanley Christman, Secretary; Jerome G. Wilde, Treasurer; and Thomas Bahr, at-large. With Joseph and Carl Ruh no longer present to object, the Board decided to expand by increasing the firm's capital stock to $600,000 and making 200,000 more shares available for future projects. The funds raised through this offering were used to acquire the adjacent Sebastian Lathe Co. property for $300,000. It was converted to a bottling facility that could fill over 100,000 bottles per shift. A new loading platform allowed 25 delivery trucks to load barrels and crates simultaneously. These improvements allowed an increase net income of $150,000 by 1946. However, in the next year, sales began to decline.
At the same time, Heidelberg was engaged with a litigation battle against E.F. Pritchard, which had been ongoing for several years. The distributor alleged that Heidelberg had failed to deliver beers for its private labels in the time specified by contract, according to the formulas specified and previously agreed upon pricing. This ultimately resulted in a $80,000 judgement against the brewer, plus legal fees over the litigation period. Another challenge was that, after Ruh left, Heidelberg's Board no longer had any brewery experience. The President of Heidelberg, George Meyerratken, had formerly worked in the woodworking machinery and advertising business. Further, it must have been costly and somewhat ineffective for such a small brewery to market many different brands and varieties of beer, though it did result in some interesting designs and advertising memorabilia.
Left: A billboard for Student Prince Beer at Crosley Field in 1939, during a World Series game between the Reds and NY Yankees. Right: A Billboard for Heirloom Beer at Crosley Field, Cincinnati, OH.
By the end of 1947, the future of Heidelberg looked doubtful. The brewer's stock price, offered at $1.25 nearly fifteen years earlier, had declined to 40 cents. At the same time, Bavarian Brewing Co., located just several blocks south, was having difficulty producing as much beer as they could sell. Bavarian became aware of Heidelberg’s situation and initiated conversations to purchase Heidelberg in 1948. They made the possibility attractive to their stockholders by making an offer at 60 cents a share, a 50% premium. In March, 1949, Bavarian acquired the Heidelberg Brewing Co. Included in this purchase were rights for Bavarian to obtain the Heidelberg billboard at Crosley Field, shown in the photos above. This sign was located on the roof of The Superior Towel and Linen Co The board had been used to advertise different Heidelberg brands from around 1935 until 1948. After Bavarian acquired Heidelberg, this sign displayed ads for Bavarian's Old Style Beer and Bavarian's Select Beer from 1949 until about 1962. Although none Heidelberg's brands were acquired by Bavarian, the Heirloom Beer brand was obtained and brewed by the South Bethlehem Brewing Co. in Bethlehem, PA.
1940s: On the top row are two neon signs made for Heidelberg Brewing Co. The first is for their Gold Medal Heirloom Beer and the second is for their main beer, Student Prince. Directly above on the far left is a large 3' x5' metal sign made for Student Prince Beer, which is disproportionate in size as shown, to the other items. The other images are of a gas pump globe for Student Prince; the one on the far right is a video that shows the globe in operation.
HEIDELBERG DISTRIBUTING CO. (1938 - Present)
Even though Heidelberg Brewing Co. went out of business in 1949 after only fifteen years of operation, it provided a unique business opportunity for an immigrant who had arrived in Cincinnati in 1907 at the age of 22: German native Albert W. Vontz. He started a company that has now operated for over 80 years, employs more than 1,600 workers, and encompasses nine warehouses in Ohio and Kentucky. Vontz’s company, Heidelberg Distributing Co., has become one of the largest beverage distributorships in the country. It was named after the Heidelberg Brewing Co., where Albert got his start delivering Student Prince beer. However, in 2022 the firm was acquired by Redwood Capital Investments, aka Redwood Holdings, a firm based in Maryland.
Before starting this firm, Vontz was trained as a brewer and became an owner of two taverns in Cincinnati in the pre-Prohibition era. When beer production resumed after Prohibition, he worked temporarily at the Vienna Brewery in Cincinnati. However, he ultimately decided to work for himself, buying a truck and delivering beer for Heidelberg Brewing Co. around 1938. Vontz made deliveries of Student Prince beer products to grocery stores and restaurants in the Dayton area, driving daily from Covington, KY. After the brewery was sold to the Bavarian Brewing Co., Albert found other beer and wine products to distribute. When Albert's son, Albert Vontz, Jr., returned after WWII, he attended the University of Cincinnati, studied economics, and searched for ways to help his father's company. After expanding their business with wine products in the 1950s, the firm purchased the Anheuser-Busch branch in Cincinnati in 1959 and then the Dayton Budweiser distributorship in 1961. These opportunistic acquisitions occurred shortly after the Bavarian Brewing Co. was ending its lawsuit against Anheuser Busch in 1958 and before its merger with IBI in 1959. As explained in 9B. A Gussie Busch & Bavarian Meeting, Bavarian may have had the opportunity to have made these distributorship purchases instead. Even though Albert Vontz Jr. passed away in 2002, Heidelberg has expanded becoming one of the largest distributors in the country with over 1,600 employees. The Vontz family remained involved with the firm for over 80 years and for four generations, most recently including Albert Vontz III and his son, Albert Vontz IV.
CONTINUE TO
Section 8D - Bavarian's TV/Radio Shows (1950s)
SOURCES:
Newspapers.com and Cincinnati Enquirer
Holian, Timothy J., Over The Barrel Volume Two
Robert A. Musson, M.D., Bavarian Brewing and the rest of Northern Kentucky, Volume IX, pgs. 53 - 63.
Riedlin and Schott family items and information.
Trousdale, C.B., A History of the Bavarian Brewery, 1954
March, 1949. The background is a photo of the beer soaked boots of a Bavarian Brewing Co. employee emptying 70,000 gallons of Heidelberg beer allowing Bavarian to legally avoid beer tax and to make room for Bavarian's Beer in the former Heidelberg Brewery, which became the Bavarian Plant No. 2.
