Frederick Pabst helps to build a theater in Milwaukee
Pabst Theater
As a gift to the community, beer magnate Frederick Pabst provided $300,000 for the theater's construction in 1895. At the time of its construction the building was noted for its technological innovations. These included an electric organ, one of the country's first fire curtains, all electrical illumination, and a very early air conditioning system, which used a number of fans and large amounts of ice. The theater is also thought to have the first counterweight system for hoisting scenery. This was installed shortly after World War I and remains in use. For many years the Pabst Theater was the home of the German theater in Milwaukee, which at the time of the building's construction was known as the "Deutsch Athen" (German Athens) to German-Americans.
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