Schmidt Artist Lofts

The Schmidt Artist Lofts, located in the West Seventh neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, was originally built to brew beer for Schmidt Brewery. The Schmidt Brewery was vacant for 11 years until a massive community and developer effort resulted in a plan for a revitalization of the brewery's historic building into the creation of the Schmidt Artist Lofts in 2013.History19th CenturyIn 1855 Christopher Stahlmann moved to St. Paul Minnesota and opened the largest brewery in Minnesota originally known as the Cave Brewery. It was named the "Cave Brewery" because Stahlmann created an extensive lagering cave directly below the brewery, known as "Stahlmann's Cellars". The cave is located 20 to 30 feet below street level, and its total length measures one half mile, making it the most extensive brewery cave in Minnesota.Christopher Stahlmann died of "inflammation of the bowels" in 1883. The Cave Brewery Christopher had built was left to his sons, however, each one of them perished one after another from tuberculosis. The Cave Brewery went bankrupt in 1897.20th CenturyIn 1900 Jacob Schmidt, a Bavarian born brewer, purchased Stahlmann's Brewery, to relocate his recently burned down North Star Brewery at Dayton's Bluff. Schmidt began an expansion project that included forced-air drying and modern mechanical refrigeration that replaced the need for Stahlmann's lagering caves. Schmidt also employed the help of Chicago architect, Bernard Barthel, to add the "feudal castle style" to the expanded brewery.Jacob Schmidt died in 1910 and left the brewery to his partners, Otto and Adolf Bremer. The Bremer brothers led the brewery to be one of the leading regional beer producers in the country.