HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Otto Koehler House

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Built in 1901 for German immigrant Otto Koehler (1855-1914), this home was among the first in this area. Koehler, president of the Pearl Brewing Company, employed local architect Carl Von Seutter to design the home. One of the most spectacular examples of turn-of-the century Eclecticism in San Antonio, with outbuildings and grounds intact, the Koehler home was bult by Jaco Wagner with landscape design by G.A. Schattenberg.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Built in 1901 for German immigrant Otto Koehler, president of the Pearl Brewing Company, this was among the first homes in its San Antonio neighborhood. Local architect Carl Von Seutter designed it as one of the city's most spectacular examples of turn-of-the-century Eclecticism, with builder Jaco Wagner and landscape designer G. A. Schattenberg shaping the grounds. The house survives with its outbuildings and landscaping intact.

Why it matters

It links San Antonio's German immigrant community and its famous brewing industry to the exuberant architectural ambitions of the Gilded Age city.

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Related people

  • · Otto Koehler
  • · Carl Von Seutter
  • · G. A. Schattenberg

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