this room was built originally to be krishan iraq -- heurich -- christian heurich's beer drinking room. maybe they would feel comfortable ash in their cigars on the floor in the original tavern signature we have in the middle of the room. because krishan was 60 years old when he had his children and his dining room was the only place for the family to have meals, this became the german breakfast room. this is where the kids would have their breakfast and lunch. it was a more casual dining space, and when that conversion happened, they ordered a suite of venture from krishan's home province in germany. we have a set of table and chairs, this amazing sideboard. we have a -- we have a couple other pieces including a bench. all of them have years in them that are historical figures from the place where krishan grew up. -- christian grew up. they are the founders of his home town. this room still retains a lot of its original features. we have murals on the wall that have been restored that are all idioms about drinking in germany. he who has never been drunk is not a good man. on the walls

heurich came from very little. he was born in a small town to the south of bavaria in germany, before germany really was a country. he grew up with parents who ran a tavern. he also worked in the tavern, waking up really early to help serve and going to school. by the time he was 14, he was orphaned. his neighbors helped him get an apprenticeship in the brewing and butcher trade. those are things that go together. he actually was apprenticed around europe, multiple different breweries, doing am -- a wandering apprenticeship, until he finally decided to come to america after the civil war. he moved to baltimore, where his sister had moved some years before, and decided to sort of explore a little bit more, going out on a ship with her sister's husband, it was a captain, and then he traveled out west. he apprenticed to some more breweries working on a farm, , until he finally decided to come back and try to open his own brewery. that is when he landed in washington, d.c.. that was in 1872. he did that by purchasing a

. >> the heurich house in washington, d.c., was built by christian heurich, who started a successful brewing company in 1872. today we tour several rooms in that mansion, also called the brewmaster's castle, to learn about the heurich family. this is the first of a two-part series. >> this is the home of christian heurich, washington, d.c.'s most important brewer. he was a philanthropist, and he also was the largest employer during his lifetime. he lived to 102. when he died he was still operating his brewery, he was the oldest brewer in the world at that time. this room was built originally to be christian heurich's beer drinking room. room floor was made out of title. furniture wetavern still have in the middle of the room. because christian was basically 60 years old when he had his children and the dining room was the only place for the family to have meals, this became the german breakfast room. this is where the kids would have their breakfast and lunch. there was a phone in here. it was a more casual dining space. and when that conversion happened, they ordered a suite 's furn

amelia heurich had all of the children, all of heurich's child ren, and there were four of them. chris junior,, and a-marguerite, anna, and carla. anna-marguerite died when she was 9 months old. carla, the youngest, lived to be 106 and she only died a few years ago. we have a lot of her oral history and information about the amalie her. -- family from her. we know the family had dinner in this room every night and when the kids were older and had their own families, they were always invited to come to dinner on any sunday, to have a big family dinner. we have a lot of photos of them sitting at this table, and instead of these giant dining room chairs, we have a lot of these chairs. .hey all sat on wood chairs this room really was the center of their family life, and if you look around, very german, stylistically. the two opposite ands of hand craftsmanship the sideboards and the fireplace, and also the possibly catalog order, machine made pieces, but then also if you look at the detail of the subject matter of the different pieces, we see there are very dramatic. -- germanic. we

was built by krishan heurich, we started a successful brewing company in 1872. today we learn how prohibition and world war i impacted the heurich family and their brewing company. this is the second of a two-part series. >> welcome to the heurich house museum. this is the home of washington, d.c.'s most successful

. >> the heurich house in washington, d.c., was built by christian heurich, who started a successful brewing company in 1872.

today we tore several rooms in that mansion, also called the brewmasters castle, to learn about the heurich family. this is the first of a two-part series. >> this is the home of christian washington, d.c.'s most important brewer. he was a philanthropist, and he also was they largest employer during his lifetime.