Butcher shop and economy Fritzsch
By Klaus-Werner Fritzsch and Siegfried Schäfer
Without Worscht, without Woi…. this and no other could have been a family hymn of the long-established Fritzsch butcher dynasty.
In 1896, Philipp Fritzsch and his wife Apollonia decided to officially register the butcher’s trade, which they had already been practicing for several years, with the Chamber of Crafts in Mainz.
The headquarters of the butcher’s shop and the adjoining inn were initially located in Haus Krone, where appropriate premises were rented.
Fritzsch butcher’s shop in the Krone house, postcard from 1906
Image source: Werner Böhm
Company sign of butchery and inn Johann Fritzsch
Image source: Klaus-Werner Fritzsch
In 1904, the business moved to Obergasse, and the butcher’s store and inn continued to operate there. After his father’s death in 1934, his older son Johann and his wife Katharina took over the business, in which brother Josef also worked. Together they continued to expand the company until the Second World War. During this time, the inn enjoyed an excellent reputation far beyond the town’s borders. In 1932 and 1936 Johann’s and Katharina’s sons Anton, called Toni, and Werner were born. During the Second World War, Philipp’s sons Josef and Johann were drafted for military service. The restaurant operation had to be discontinued due to the staff shortage. Josef fell in Italy in 1945. Johann returned from captivity seriously ill and died in the same year. Katharina led the butchery through the war and post-war years. Their business operated under the name “Metzgerei und Gastwirtschaft Johann Fritzsch Witwe”.
There was no question that Johann’s son Toni should continue the butchery. From 1946-49 he completed an apprenticeship as a butcher in Hechtsheim. His brother Werner followed him and completed his apprenticeship in 1953.
From 1951 the management of the Fritzsch butcher’s shop was in the hands of Toni. At the same time, the vineyards owned by the family were cultivated in order to serve their own products in the restaurant.
Bottle label from 1947
Image source: Klaus-Werner Fritsch
Guest room of the Fritzsch inn
Image source: Klaus-Werner Fritzsch
In 1957 Toni Fritzsch married his Erika, the successful team was at the start. With great dedication and tireless efforts, the butchery and inn took a steady upswing. House masquerade balls, roulette and skat rounds in the “Stübche” or the celebration of the “Kerb” in the Fritzsche Hof were social highlights. For example, the Fritzsch restaurant initially had the only television set in the village, which ensured a full house and a full cash register for weeks during the 1954 World Cup. In 1960 Toni successfully graduated from the master school and three years later his brother Werner returned to the parental business. However, the flourishing butchery business also took its toll. The high daily workload in the butcher’s shop as well as the additional home slaughtering caused the family to give up the operation of the restaurant in 1965 – much to the chagrin of the local population.
Fritzsch inn, courtyard view
Image source: Klaus-Werner Fritzsch
Salesroom 1992 with E. Fritzsch and M. Kanitz
Image source: Klaus-Werner Fritzsch
Another branch opened in Bahnhofstrasse for the first Harxheim development was abandoned after six years for reasons of profitability. Brother Werner and his wife Lilly left the business and reoriented themselves professionally. Traditional in-house slaughtering was discontinued in 1974. From that time on, the company purchased fresh meat exclusively from Fleischer-Einkauf Mainz. The competitive pressure from the newly emerging supermarkets also became increasingly noticeable. After more than 40 years of service, the time of Toni and Erika Fritzsch’s well-deserved retirement approached at the beginning of the nineties, and with it the end of a traditional business. To the great regret of the local population, the Fritzsch butcher’s store, one of the oldest commercial enterprises and a central point of contact in Harxheim’s town center, closed for good in April 1994.
Fritzsch family chronicle
Source: Klaus-Werner Fritzsch
The history of the Fritzsch butcher’s shop is also recorded in text and photos in the family chronicle written on the occasion of the farewell.
References:
Eyewitness interviews
