Valentin Blatz (October 1, 1826 – May 26, 1894) was a

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

brewer and banker.Historic Beer Birthday: Valentin Blatz
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Biography

Valentin Blatz was born in

Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Miltenberg (district), like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

, and worked at his father's brewery in his youth. In August 1848, he immigrated to America, and by 1849 had moved to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Blatz established a brewery next to Johann Braun's City Brewery in 1850 and merged both breweries upon Braun's death in 1852. He also married Braun's widow. The brewery produced Milwaukee's first individually bottled beer in 1874. It incorporated as the

Valentin Blatz Brewing Company The Valentin Blatz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It produced Blatz Beer from 1851 until 1959, when the label was sold to Pabst Brewing Company. Blatz beer is currently produced by the Miller Brewing Compa ...

in 1889 and by the 1900s was the city's third largest brewer. He was active in many organizations such as the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

. Blatz was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and member of Aurora Lodge No.30 in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

.
digital document by phoenixmasonry: vol. 1
Blatz died in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 26, 1894, while returning home to Milwaukee from a trip to California. He was survived by a wife, three sons, and two daughters. He is buried in a massive family mausoleum at

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery and arboretum located in the Lincoln Village, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed bee ...

in Milwaukee.

Gallery

File:ValBlatzResidence1886.png, Valentin Blatz home (1886 engraving) File:BlatzBrewery1886.png, Blatz brewery (1886 engraving) File:Blatztomb.jpg, Mausoleum in

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatz, Valentin 1826 births 1894 deaths Bavarian emigrants to the United States American drink industry businesspeople People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Businesspeople from Milwaukee American brewers 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Forest Home Cemetery

Biography

Gallery

See also

References