MARITZEN, August (1862-1925), active in Chicago, Ill. where he was a leading expert in the architectural and industrial design of brewery buildings. His name first appears in Chicago directories in partnership with Wilhelm Griesser in 1888 (as Griesser & Maritzen, Architects). By 1891, Maritzen was working under his own name, and during the next 8 years he was credited with the design of more than 80 brewery buildings in the United States and Canada. His most significant work in Canada, and his largest commission here, was for the O’Keefe Brewery complex in Toronto (1892; demol. 1965), located on land adjacent to the present Ryerson University campus.
Maritzen was born in Krefeld, Prussia [now Germany] on 31 January 1862, and later emigrated to the United States in 1882. He was the author of an pictorial publication of his own work entitled Illustrated Catalogue of Architectural & Engineering Work Designed by August Maritzen, 1892, which was released in two separate editions. A copy of this book is held at the Shields Library, University of California at Davis, Calif. (inf. Susan Appel, Champaign, Ill.). Maritzen left Chicago in 1902 and moved to San Francisco where he continued his career as a brewery architect until 1914 (City of San Francisco Directory, 1914, p. 1213). He later died at San Mateo, Calif. on 11 April 1925.
VICTORIA, B.C., Charles Gowen & Sons Brewery, also called The Phoenix Brewery, Esquimalt Road, 1891-92 (Western Brewer [Chicago], xvi, Sept. 1891, 2106; Dec. 1891, 2845, illus. & descrip.; Victoria Daily Times, 26 Jan. 1892, 5, descrip.; Illustrated Catalogue of Architectural & Engineering Work Designed by August Maritzen, 1892, 2nd edit., 1893-94, illus.; inf. Susan Appel, Champaign, Ill.)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., Walkerville Brewing Co., 1891-92 (Western Brewer [Chicago], xvi, Nov. 1891, 2576; Illustrated Catalogue of Architectural & Engineering Work Designed by August Maritzen, 1892, 2nd edit., 1893-94, illus.; inf. Susan Appel, Champaign, Ill.)
TORONTO, ONT. (with Smith & Gemmell, Local Associate Architects). O’Keefe’s Brewery Buildings, Victoria Street at Gould Street, 1892-93 (Western Brewer [Chicago], xix, Jan. 1894, 92-93, illus. and descrip.; inf. Susan Appel, Champaign, Ill.)
HAMILTON, ONT., (with William & Walter Stewart, Local Associate Architects) Grant Lottridge Brewing Co., Bay Street North, new brew house, hop storage and reconstruction of other buildings, 1893 (Western Brewer [Chicago], xviii, May 1893, 1041; Susan Appel, Champaign, Ill.)