105 East Second Street - Hermann Historic District - Hermann, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 42.369 W 091° 26.238
15S E 635878 N 4285327
Large district along the old water front....and the first stuff on the hill...listing not numbers but by street address...
Waymark Code: WM12MKR
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/16/2020
Views: 1
County of house: Gasconade County
Location of house: E. 2nd St. & Market St., NE corner, Hermann
Original Occupant: Geselleschaft Erholung building
Current Occupant: Harbor Haus Inn & Suites
Built: 1850
Architectural Style: Missouri-German
"105 East 2nd Street, Geselleschaft Erholung building, 1850, Contributing (survey #45)
This 1-story brick building has a parapeted side gable roof clad in metal. It is representative of mid-19th Century Missouri-German architecture in Hermann. The façade is 7-bays wide with doors in the 3rd and 4th bays (from east). The doors are sheltered beneath a partial width shed roof porch supported by turned post. The railing has panels with diamond shapes cut out of the centers. The windows on the façade are 2/2 wood sash set within segmental brick arches. There is a corbelled brick cornice." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"This building was constructed by subscription by an organization
calling itself the Geselleschaft Erholung "having for its object the
intellectual improvement of its members in literature, science, and
arts, and to assist each other in misfortunes, ... collect a library .... " Shares were twelve dollars and fifty cents, which presumably went towards the construction of the building. The society was incorporated by the state on March 2, 1849. It is likely that the building was erected shortly thereafter; it was certainly in place by the time of the tax assessment of 1851. The building functioned as a community center and meeting place. The early wine judging contests were held in this building in the 1850s.
"Interest waned in the organization in the early years of the 1860s
and the building was sold to Eduard Cramer just after the Civil War.
Cramer used the building as an adjunct warehouse for his store
building fronting on Market Street. In 1883 the property was purchased by Dr. Gustav Ettmueller and renovated as a residence.
"General description: One and one half story rectangle shaped building
constructed of brick laid in common bond resting on a rubble stone
foundation with a full cellar beneath.
"setting: The building is set back approx. ten feet from the sidewalk.
There is about the same distance between the building to the east
though a modern addition fills part of the space. The backyard extends back to the alley." ~ DNR Historic Survey pages 185-190, part I