Isabella Mueller Baroness of Stainton le Vale
Numerous breweries were established in Zweibrücken and the surrounding area before 1900. One of the largest was the Parkbrauerei, whose historic buildings dating from 1888 were demolished in 2020. This old brewery is the subject of an ancient legend that is closely linked to the history of its origins. The Schmidt brothers founded a brewery as early as 1853. After his brother’s death, Jacob Schmidt leased this brewery, “Zum Park,” to Messrs. Busch and Neidhard. Since the brewer Busch soon emigrated to the United States to join his uncle, who owned the Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis, Jacob Schmidt initially continued to run the business alone until he sold the brewery to Philip Jacobi for health reasons. In 1888, the Park Brewery merged with the Pirmasens brewery “Zum Park” to form the joint-stock company “Parkbrauereien Zweibrücken-Pirmasens.” Master brewer Anton, who had lost his leg in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871, had been working there since 1882. As he had a wooden leg and limped, every employee could hear him approaching from afar. Anton was considered an excellent master brewer and the good spirit of the brewery. But one day, when Anton wanted to check the brew in the copper kettle, a terrible accident happened. In the past, the copper lid of the brewing pan had to be lifted over the kettle with the help of chains. As Anton stood under the open kettle lid, it suddenly fell and tore off Anton’s head, which was now boiling in the brew. After the terrible accident, the brewery tried to cover up the incident so as not to jeopardize its existence. They feared that the brewery would get a bad reputation if people thought about the head of one of their employees boiling in the kettle every time they drank beer. Since Anton had no family, the brewery secretly organized the funeral, and Anton was buried headless without much fanfare. With Anton’s death, the brewery had lost not only its master brewer, but also its good soul. Shocked by the terrible accident, the tenants Busch and Neidhardt terminated the lease agreement, leading to a merger with the Zweibrücken-based Tivoli brewery in 1897. In 1912, a merger took place with Pirmasenser Bürgerbräu AG, and just in time for the 50th anniversary, the name was changed to Parkbrauerei AG Pirmasens-Zweibrücken. After the brewmaster’s death, he was still often seen and, above all, heard in the brewery. Especially at night, he wandered around the brewery as a ghost, searching for his head, without which he had been buried. Master brewer Anton was considered a good spirit who always warned the employees of danger. During the enemy bombings in World War II, he proved to be a true savior, always warning the brewery employees of heavy air raids. On March 13 in particular, he haunted the brewery for a long time, whereupon the shelters were prepared so that there were no casualties during the air raid the next day. The limping Anton thus went down in the history of Zweibrücken, and who knows where he haunts today after the demolition of the old Parkbrauerei. But perhaps he has finally found his head and with it his peace.
