Charles Liebmann (November 16, 1837 – June 12, 1928) was a German-born American brewer and president of S. Liebmann Brewery (later

Rheingold Breweries Rheingold Brewery was a New York state brewery which sold Rheingold Beer from 1883 to 1976. The brewery held 35% of the state's beer market at its peak. The company was sold by the founding Jewish American Liebmann family in 1963. According t ...

) in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. The brewery's main brand ''Rheingold Extra Dry'' was one of the most popular beer brands in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in the 1940s to 1960s.

Biography

Charles Liebmann was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Schmiedelfeld in 1837, the son of Dara (née Selz) and

Samuel Liebmann Samuel Liebmann (November 12, 1799 – November 21, 1872) was a German-born American brewer and founder of S. Liebmann Brewery (later Rheingold Breweries) in Brooklyn, New York. Introduced after his death, the main brand ''Rheingold Extra Dry'' ...

. His father was, at the time, the owner of the estate Schloss Schmiedelfeld. In 1840, the family moved to

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

and ran the inn "Zum Stern" and its attached brewery; and where the young Liebmann attended secondary school. His father determined to immigrate to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for political reasons and sent Charles' brother in 1850 in advance to procure a home. In 1854, the remainder of the family immigrated settling in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United ...

. The family first operated the old ''Maasche Brewery'' while Charles worked as a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

at the '' F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company''. Pooling their resources, the family built a new brewery in Bushwick named the '' S. Liebmann Brewery''. After the death of his father in 1872, the three sons took over the management of the brewery and renamed it ''S. Liebmann's Sons Brewing Company''. The Liebmann brothers alternated with each other as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

each year. Charles Liebmann was considered the technical director of the company. In 1903, the Liebmann brothers retired and handed over the management of the company to six of their sons.

Personal life

On October 22, 1865, Liebmann married Sophia Bendix; they had four children: * Henry Liebmann (born August 19, 1866), died as a child * Julius Liebmann (November 16, 1868 - October 8, 1957) * Alfred Liebmann (July 20, 1871 - December 1957), married to Alma Wallach Liebmann (1882-1938), 2 children: **Dorothea Liebmann, married to Roger Williams Straus Jr., son of

Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim Straus Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim Straus (August 15, 1895 – March 14, 1980) was an American heiress who became an expert on food and nutrition. Early life She was born in Elberon, New Jersey on August 15, 1895 as Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim. She was a d ...

**Philip Liebmann (February 19, 1915 - February 2, 1972), married Dorothy Walp in 1942, divorced 1943; married

Linda Darnell Linda Darnell (born Monetta Eloyse Darnell; October 16, 1923 – April 10, 1965) was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theater and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in ...

in 1954, divorced; married Joan Barry in 1955, sister of

Al Barry Allan Barry (born December 24, 1930) is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. He also played in the American Football League for the Los Angeles Chargers. ...

* Amanda Liebmann (born September 10, 1872) Liebmann died on June 12, 1928 in

References

''Die Liebmann Brauerei in New York''
retrieved August 15, 2014.
''Find a Grave: Samuel Liebmann''
retrieved August 15, 2014. * * Carl Schlegel
''Schlegel’s American Families of German Ancestry'', S. 236ff.
retrieved August 15, 2014. * Bernhard Purin: ''"My Beer is Rheingold – the dry Beer". Die Liebmanns, Hermann Schülein und Miss Rheingold''. In: Lilian Harlander, Bernhard Purin (Hg.): ''Bier ist der Wein dieses Landes. Jüdische Braugeschichten'', Volk Verlag, München 2016, , S. 207––229.
''The Liebmann Family and the New York Society for Ethical Culture''
retrieved August 15, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liebmann, Charles 1837 births 1928 deaths American Jews American brewers German emigrants to the United States Liebmann family