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4 unusual facts about John Michael Kohler


John Michael Kohler

Today, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, which occupies a square block in downtown Sheboygan (containing Kohler's restored Gilded Age home along with modern buildings), is a tribute to this founding member of a distinguished family.

In 1912, it was officially designated the Kohler Company, and the property surrounding the plant became the Village of Kohler.

Kohler was born on November 3, 1844 in the Alpine village of Schnepfau, Austria, the fourth child of dairy farmer John Michael Kohler Sr. (1805–74) and his wife, the former Maria Anna Moosbrugger (1816–53).

Kohler Strikes

The Kohler Company was founded in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1873, when John Michael Kohler II (1844–1900) took over his father-in-law's steel and iron factory.



see also

Walter J. Kohler, Sr.

They had four sons: John Michael Kohler III (1902–68), Walter Jodok, Jr. (1904–76), Carl James (1905–60), and Robert Eugene (1908–90).