Pabst Theater | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Pabst Theater

Pabst Theater | Wisconsin Historical Society

144 E. Wells St., Milwaukee, Milwaukee County 

Designed by Otto Strack and built by Milwaukee brewing magnate Captain Frederick Pabst, the Pabst Theater was constructed on the site of an earlier opera house destroyed by fire in 1895. The Pabst was completed in just six months and opened on November 9, 1895. One of the first all-electric theaters, the Pabst also included such innovations as air conditioning and fireproof construction. The Pabst was home to one of the finest German theater companies in the United States and epitomized German culture in Wisconsin while also featuring this nation's greatest artists on its stage.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]