How the Krueger mansion is testing German-American heritage
The Krueger mansion in Newark, New Jersey, once belonged to a powerful German beer baron. Now it's falling apart and funding to keep it up is hard to find. Just how important is German heritage in the US?
Dilapidated symbol of German-American heritage
What looks like the perfect haunted house is the former residence of German-American brewery founder Gottfried Krueger (1837-1926). The mansion went out of family ownership in 1926 and later became a beauty salon and squat. Now local historian Guy Sterling is seeking to raising support to preserve the long-neglected symbol of German heritage in the US.
One of New Jersey's most endangered sites
The Krueger mansion was built in the late 1880s. Pictured is the carriage house, where horse-drawn carriages could approach the residence. In 2011, the advocacy group Preservation New Jersey put the villa on its list of 10 most endangered historic sites in the state.
The first brewery to sell beer in cans
Gottfried Krueger moved from Sulzfeld, Germany, to the US as a teenager. In 1858, he founded a brewing company with his uncle. After Krueger's death, the company would become the first brewery to market beer in practical aluminum cans in the 1930s. The company was bought out in the early 1960s and its Newark plant was closed.
The face of history
This statute can be found under the mansion's porch. The mansion comprises 26 rooms, which were inhabited by squatters in the 1990s.
GK = Gottfried Krueger
The threshold to the villa holds the memory of its original owner. The mansion is thought to be inspired by the castles in Gottfried Krueger's native southern Germany.
No ghosts here
The basement to the Krueger villa looks like it could serve as the backdrop for a horror film. But there's nothing spooky in here. Little is being done in a practical manner to preserve the mansion, says local historian Guy Sterling.
Eternal resting place
Gottfried Krueger's residence was impressive while he was alive, but his burial site is equally monumental. He died in 1926 and was laid to rest in this mausoleum in Newark's Woodland Cemetery.