The Old Swiss House and its links with Anheuser-Busch

In 1951, while dining at the Old Swiss House, Mr. August “Gussi” Busch, President and CEO of the world’s largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch Inc., met Trudy Buholzer, daughter of the restaurant’s proprietor. They married a year later and went on to have seven children.

The wedding was publicised in the American press, thereby raising the profile of the Old Swiss House in the USA

Procurement of hops for Anheuser-Busch

For over forty years, Willy Buholzer sr. was responsible for the procurement of all of Anheuser-Busch’s European hops requirements. He was followed by his son, Willy Buholzer jr., who took over the job more than fifteen years ago.

His sphere of responsibility, in the meantime, has been expanded to include the procurement of brewing barley and beer packaging. Moreover, he heads up an eighty-hectare research establishment in the region of Hallertau, which lies between Munich and Nuremberg, Germany, where top-quality aroma hops destined for Budweiser Beer are bred and tested.

Willy Buholzer jr. lives with his wife and three children in Berg, on Lake Starnberg, in Bavaria, Germany

How it all began ...

• 1852
  Establishment of the “Bavarian Brewery” in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
• 1857
  Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant, arrives in St. Louis
• 1860
  Eberhard Anheuser acquires the Bavarian Brewery
• 1861
  Adolphus Busch marries Eberhard Anheuser’s daughter, Lilly
• 1864
  Adolphus Busch begins working at his father-in-law’s brewery
• 1876
  Budweiser beer launched.
• 1879
  The “Bavarian Brewery” changes its name to the “Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association”
• 1880
  Eberhard Anheuser dies; Adolphus Busch assumes the presidency
• 1896
  Michelob launched.
• 1920
  Start of the era of prohibition. The company introduces numerous non-beer products to the market, such as syrup and ice-cream… as well as non-alcoholic Budweiser…

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