Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2022

Herman Heinrich Heller was born March 2, 1848, in Rütenbrock, Landkreis Emslad, Niedersachsen, Germany, son of Johann Albert Heller (1810-1866) and Maria Anna Helena Husmann (1815-1895).

When Herman was 20 years old, he entered military service. He served three years and participated in the war between France and Germany in 1870-1871. After finishing his term in the Army, Herman decided to turn his focus to the land across the seas, and in 1872 he crossed the Atlantic and came directly to Shakopee. Because his mother was a Husmann, Herman knew the Husmanns who had already been in Shakopee, and so he arrived here and was employed in the Husmann Brewery. The brewery was in west Shakopee along the railroad tracks, about one-quarter mile east of the Strunk-Nyssen Brewery, according to Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota, p. 299.

According to Doug Hoverson in Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota, Adolph Albachten was in Shakopee and employed at a brewery by the 1857 territorial census. By 1860, he expanded the production to nearly 800 barrels – nearly as large as most of the breweries in St. Paul and larger than most breweries in Minnesota.

Like Herman Strunk, Albachten operated a distillery as well as a brewery. In 1867 he added J.B. Husmann as partner, and by 1870 Husmann became the sole proprietor. For the next twenty years, members of the Husmann family were in charge, producing 1,200 barrels per year in 1870, making it one of the largest breweries in the state outside Minneapolis and St. Paul. And Herman Heller was an employee at Husmann Brewery.

Minnesota has an illustrious brewing history. Today’s craft beer explosion will see the year end with over one hundred breweries operating in Minnesota. But that was nothing. Before Prohibition there were almost three hundred breweries producing ales and lagers in the state of Minnesota and St. Paul was the leader with 12 breweries operating at one time, greatly reflecting the early predominant German population, according to Yoerg Beer’s “Minnesota’s Brewing Pioneers.” Southern Minnesota also had a heavy German population and places like Rochester and New Ulm were filled with family-owned breweries. And Shakopee had two breweries, including the Husmann Brewery, one of the largest outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to One Hundred Years of Brewing – A Complete History of Progress Made in Art Science & Industry of Brewing in the World by H.S. Rich and Company, 1974 and from the Rich & Co: A Supplement to the Western Brewer 1903: Historical Sketches & Views of Ancient & Modern Breweries; Lives and Portraits of Brewers of Past and Present.

In 1875, Herman married Anna Gesina Weinans (1849-1888), and the two of them moved to Marystown, where they farmed for four years. Herman and Anna had six children. In 1878, they moved back to Shakopee, and Herman resumed work in the brewery.

Herman was a hard worker, honest in his dealings and had a most kindly and jovial disposition. He enjoyed quite a large trade and won success in his business.

Anna Gesina Weinens Heller died in 1888, and Herman was left with six children. In 1894, he married Catherine Katie Koerner Dols. Together they took care of their four children of his first wife. Two others had died young. The children included John Bernard, Mary Heller Hurley, Herman, and Elizabeth Anna Heller Stans, according to Find a Grave.

Two years after the death of his first wife, Herman began brewing at the Husmann Brewery, which, when he took over in 1890, became the Union Brewery. He continued the business until 1901, when he retired from the brewery and J.M. Engelhorn took over until 1908. Herman devoted his time looking over his farming interests until the time of his illness.

Herman Heinrich Heller’s health failed him at age 55, and he died at his home on Saturday, Dec. 5, 1903, of kidney disease. His funeral was at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Shakopee, with Rev. Fr. Alois Plut officiated. Herman was buried at the Shakopee Catholic Cemetery, according to the Scott County Argus, Dec. 11, 1903.