Kallmeyer Family

While this farm was originally cultivated by Charles Teubner and his family, it passed through a few different hands before becoming Hermann Farm as you see it today. The greatest part of its history was actually spent with the Kallmeyer family, who held onto this land for nearly a century. When Charles and Josephine Teubner died, they passed the farm on to their sons, but Charles Jr. and Fred were so young when their parents died that it was actually George Husmann, their uncle and legal guardian, who took care of the property until Charles Jr. came of age. He and his brother kept the farm until 1877, when they sold it to Frederick Frank, who then held onto it until Julius Kallmeyer purchased the farm in 1908.

Only a year later, in 1909, Julius married Tillie Rathert, and together they raised their five children here. Known as Clover Farm, it was the home of between 10 and 15 dairy cows, whose milk was delivered to the citizens of Hermann by Kallmeyer’s draft horses and mules, which is one reason we feature mules and Shire draft horses on Hermann Farm today. The Kallmeyers’ mules brought a lucrative business, and from 1915 to 1944, Julius was one of the two largest mule providers in the region, keeping one- to two-hundred trained mules on the property at all times.

During both World Wars, Kallmeyer shipped his mules and his draft horses overseas to assist in the war effort. Pat and Jane, the two iconic Missouri Mules of Hermann Farm, were the last ones purchased by the Kallmeyers. The “perfect pair,” Pat and Jane are half sisters and used to be show mules before their retirement on this farm. 

The Kallmeyer family owned and ran the farm from 1908 to 2006. Joy Kallmeyer recalls that during the 1930s and ‘40s, the family grew wheat and oats out in the farm fields, but at home Mrs. Kallmeyer grew tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes, carrots, pole beans, bush beans and more. This garden provided food not just for the family, but also for the hired farm hands that stayed in the second story of the wine cellar, which is located behind the main house. They would spend their days working the fields, spend their nights sleeping above the wine cellar, and they would be fed hearty meals by Mrs. Kallmeyer. On top of the wheat and oat fields and the backyard garden, the Kallmeyers also continued to care for the few apple and pear trees that were left on the property from its nursery days. 

While much of the information available on the farm celebrates its early history with the Teubners, Husmanns and Manwarings, the Kallmeyer family had the longest history on this land, lasting almost a century.