Today is the birthday of Frank Senn (February 2, 1838-November 8, 1913) who was born in Mechtersheim, Germany, which today is known as Römerberg, but settled in St. Louis, Missouri with his parents in 1853. In Louisville, Kentucky, he opened the Frank Seen Brewery in 1874, but later sold it to his two brothers. In 1877, he took with a partner, Philip Ackermann, he opened a new brewery, the Frank Senn & Philip Ackermann Brewery. In 1892, they shortened it to the Senn & Ackermann Brewing Co., which it remained until being closed by prohibition.
Here’s a short bio, from his obituary, printed in the Western Brewer and Journal for July to December 1913.
Here’s a short history of the brewery, from the Encyclopedia of Louisville:
And another one from Germans in Louisville: A History:
After prohibition began, the building was abandoned, eventually becoming a scrapyard.
Did Frank Senn have a brother or son named Henry Senn?
Henry was a grandson. He died in 1986.
What was Senn and Ackermann Brewing Co. ‘s next door company on Main St. between 19th and 20th Streets? The building is being razed at the present time.
Frank Senn was my great-great-grandfather. He and all his family supported St. Joseph Orphanage in Louisville, Kentucky. He has stone entrance gates placed there in his memory. He also had a large burial memorial sculpture in a Louisville cemetery.
A descendant of his, Dustin Chalfant lives in St. Louis and is opening a microbrewery named Senn Bierworks in Spring 2017.
We have a fair amount of brewery memorabilia that has been passed down through the years.
Hello Thurman,
I just came upon this website as I was looking at Louisville brewing history, and saw your name. I don’t know if you remember me, but I worked with your Dad while I was at KBA. In reading about the Senn brewing history here in Louisville, I noticed that Frank Senn was from the village of Mechtersheim, Bavaria, Germany in the Rheinpfalz area. My great-grandfather, Adam Hauber, emigrated in 1849 from a village called Neupotz, Bavaria in 1849 which is only about 7 miles south of where your great-grandfather came from. Small world, as they say.
………….Walter Hauber, Jr.