Business & brands / Food
Bernhard Stroh
1822–1882 · brewer, founder of the Stroh Brewery
German brewer from Kirn who founded the Lion's Head Brewery in Detroit in 1850, the start of the Stroh Brewery that brewed in the city for 135 years.
- Born
Kirn, Prussia (Germany)- Died
Wayne County, Michigan
aged 59- Detroit years
- 1850–1882
- Field
- Business & brands, Food
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Stroh learned brewing from his father in Kirn, in the Rhineland, and left Germany in 1849 amid the revolutionary turmoil. After working at a brewery in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he arrived in Detroit in the autumn of 1850 and started brewing Bohemian-style pilsner on Catherine Street, selling it door to door from a wheelbarrow. In 1865 he expanded and named his business the Lion's Head Brewery, after the lion in the arms of Kyrburg Castle above his hometown, an emblem that stayed on Stroh's labels for generations. A new brewery was completed in 1867. He married twice and had eight children with his first wife, Eleonora Hauser. After his death in 1882 his sons Bernhard Jr. and Julius built the company into the B. Stroh Brewing Company, known for its fire-brewed beer. The Detroit brewery operated until 1985. He is buried in Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery.
Highlights
- Founded his Detroit brewery in 1850
- Named it the Lion's Head Brewery in 1865
- Company brewed in Detroit until 1985
- Buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Buried here · 1882
Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit)
Detroit's historic garden cemetery, where Stroh is buried.
Founded · 1850–1882
Stroh Brewery (Gratiot Avenue)
Demolished · 1850–1985
The family brewery on Detroit's east side, which grew from Stroh's 1850 start; it closed in 1985 and was demolished the following year.