Georg August Krug was born April 15, 1815, in Miltenberg, in the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, which would eventually become part of a united Germany. He was the son of Georg Anton Krug and Anna Marie Ludwig, owners of what is today known as Faust Brewery, which is still in operation in Miltenberg.
In the 1830s and 40s, Germany was industrializing and consolidating, which created a great deal of political turmoil. During this time, Krug worked in his family brewery and became part of a revolutionary cell in support of more social and political rights. On March 8, 1848, Krug, his father, and others in Miltenberg petitioned the Bavarian authorities to enact various liberal reforms. The following day, as protests spread, the Bavarian military forcefully reestablished order.
The radical politics that Krug was wrapped up in was all part of a larger movement of liberal reforms across Europe. And the petition in Miltenberg was just a piece of the Revolutions of 1848, which spawned a great deal of change, including the abolition of serfdom in Austria and Hungary, the end of the absolute monarchy in Denmark, the beginnings of representative democracy in the Netherlands, and widespread reforms across Germany, France, and Italy.
Krug, however, would not be in Europe to witness all these transformations. Fearing for his safety, he fled to the United States to avoid prosecution. Krug arrived in 1848 and eventually made his way to Milwaukee, which, like other burgeoning towns and cities in the Midwest, became a key destination for this new wave of immigration spawned by the European revolutions.
In Milwaukee, Krug used his savings to establish a bar and restaurant on 4th and Chestnut. Soon, other family members joined him and helped Krug build the business. In 1848, his fiancée, Anna Marie Wiesman Hartig, joined Krug in Milwaukee. After marrying, Anna Marie took over the management of the bar, allowing Krug to focus on opening a brewery across the street. A year later, Krug’s father arrived in the city, bringing capital, craft knowledge, and another set of hands.
With family support and a lot of hard work, Krug quickly became a leading brewer in Milwaukee and started to amass a fortune. With his newfound wealth, he was able to return to Germany in 1855 to visit relatives and, perhaps, entice more of them to come work for his operation in the United States.
Unfortunately for Krug, he fell down a hatchway at his brewery the following year, in 1856. Several days afterwards, he died from the injuries he sustained. His estate, including the brewery, passed to his wife. Just two years later, she married Krug’s bookkeeper, Joseph Schlitz, who, shortly after the wedding, would rename the family operations after his own family name and give us the Schlitz beer empire that still exists in some form today.
