HERMANN — As construction crews pounded away upstairs, Jim Dierberg sat at a table on the first floor of the three-story Festhalle and quietly explained his ambitious plans for taking Hermann up a giant step as a tourist attraction.

"We decided to take it to the next level," he said. "To raise the bar, so to speak."

Outside, spreading in all directions from the intersection of Gutenberg and First streets on the city's east end, those plans were taking shape: 20 upscale overnight rental rooms in six stone "wine houses," the new Tin Mill Brewery and its soon-to-be pub and restaurant in a restored grain elevator, a living history farm showcasing the mid-1800s lifestyle of the early settlers, and an annual music festival that Dierberg hopes will win national acclaim.

Add to that a Missouri River bridge with a pedestrian pathway under construction and plans for a new train station and transportation museum — both of which Dierberg had a helping financial hand in — and you soon realize that the man who made a fortune in banking is busy spending some of it creating a legacy in Hermann, a once-sleepy river town that traditionally came to life only for spring and fall festivals.

The Dierberg name has long been associated with banking and groceries. Dierberg's brother, Robert, handled the grocery business. Jim Dierberg headed First Bank, the country's largest privately held bank with $9.6 billion in assets. He retired as CEO in 2003 but remains an active chairman.

Whereas banking was his business, Dierberg, 69, has had a love affair with all things German. That includes wine, beer making and even the fine cabinets of Hermann's early craftsmen. He wants Hermann to be a centerpiece in celebrating the heritage left by German immigrants who began arriving in the 1830s and founded towns such as Washington, Dutzow and Rhineland in the lower Missouri River Valley.

Dierberg, who did a military tour of duty in Europe, said he and his wife, Mary, used to vacation in Germany before discovering Hermann in 1971.

"We came to a Maifest and thought this was a great town," he said. "Instead of a seven-hour flight to Germany, we had a one-hour drive to Hermann."

Dierberg took Hermann by storm. He and his wife visited on a Sunday, and by Tuesday he owned the town bank. The couple bought a second home here and then purchased an old winery, digging out the cellars filled in during Prohibition. He opened Hermannhof Winery in 1976. In 1985, he bought the Chrysler dealership building downtown and produced the Festhalle.

Asked how many millions he has invested in Hermann, Dierberg replied: "I have no idea. I don't want to know. All my life I've dealt with budgets. This time, I'm just doing what I think is right."

On the top two floors of the Festhalle, workers were finishing the interiors of eight rooms that will have fireplaces in the bedrooms and in the baths. Hermann already has some 50 bed and breakfast inns, but Dierberg said there was room for upscale lodging.

"Most of the rooms to date have been somebody fixing up their Victorian house as a B & B," he said. "We're giving people another alternative."

Cultural assistance

Hermann traditionally draws a young crowd that wants to party, which can cause problems when the revelers hit the winding roads back home. Dierberg has his sights set on a more mature, discerning clientele. On that front, he has given East Central College in Union a $100,000 grant to set up a music and arts program in Hermann. The college will get that amount every year until the program is self-sustaining.

"The goal is to develop a high-end, annual music festival, like Aspen or Salzburg," Dierberg said. The festival will make its debut June 10.

Dierberg addressed a town meeting called by city officials to examine his projects. Participants said the only concern came from a resident who questioned whether his property values, and taxes, would increase.

Mayor Norbert Englert, a lifelong Hermann resident who was at the meeting, said Dierberg's presentation was "well received."

"Tourism is one of our main economic boosts, has been for a lot of years," the mayor said. "What he's doing is pretty much all coming out of his pocket. It's a tremendous private investment, and we're proud of him doing it here."

Patty Held-Uthlaut, whose family operates Stone Hill Winery on the hill overlooking Hermann, said she and other businesses welcomed Dierberg's financial resources.

"Many businesses can't survive on the tourist season, from March to October," she said. "Extending the season will be fantastic."

Terry Hammer, who operates Hermann Hill Vineyard and Inn with his wife, Peggy, said there was a market for a more upscale experience in town. The Hammers recently added Hermann Hill Village, five luxury cottages along a river bluff.

"We were the first to have consistent upscale," Terry Hammer said. "Now everybody's figured out upscale is the paradigm you want, and Jim Dierberg is the catalyst that will make that happen here. He has that vision, and we're just blessed that he has found Hermann as the place he wants to share that vision."

Skyscraper, wine houses

Walking outside into a crisp fall day, Dierberg pointed out the old MFA feed store, where his daughter, Ellen, has teamed with brewmaster Don Gosen to open Tin Mill Brewery. The brewery is named for an aging tin grain elevator on the other side of Highway 100. Plans call for the elevator to be restored into a pub brewery and restaurant. The elevator is Hermann's only skyscraper, so the beer, naturally, is called Skyscraper.

Gosen was inside the brewery building, stirring the contents of a huge copper kettle originally made in Bamburg, Germany. Gosen grew up in Hermann and returned to set up a small brewery in a farmhouse outside of town. Dierberg visited and wanted to buy the brewing equipment. Gosen insisted he come with the deal.

"In 1993, I was looking for a place to put a brewery and wrote Mr. Dierberg a letter asking him if he wanted to sell the Festhalle," Gosen said. "He still has that letter in his office, which is kind of funny."

Dierberg led the way across the street to where crews were finishing the interiors on six buildings, five of them made of cut limestone, all perched on a hillside over Frene Creek. These are the "wine houses," two of which are on their original sites. Dierberg found the four others within miles of Hermann, had them disassembled, with each stone carefully marked, and rebuilt on the hillside.

"We call them wine houses because Mom and Pop lived upstairs and made wine down below," he said of the circa 1850-1870 homes. "Each one's got a different view of the courthouse, or the churches. But they all have a river view.

"That last house we walked through was Hermann's house. In 1837, they named the first baby born after the town was started 'Hermann' and gave him 40 acres. That was the house he built."

All things German

Farther east on Highway 100, Dierberg drove up a gravel road, out onto a grassy hilltop with a brick two-story main house with columns, built in 1846, and farm buildings spread below. This 175 acres is the site of Dierberg's living history farm, which will showcase the lives of the early settlers.

"Below is the old waterworks, which we bought from the city," he said. "That will be a reception center, and an artisan cheese plant. For the living history farm, we'll have three groups of buildings. We'll have draft horses, mules, all the other animals from 1850 to 1870. Over there, we'll put some grapes. That chicken coop will become bathrooms. "

Restoring a river

Farther east on Highway 100, Dierberg had one more stop. At the Hermann Industrial Court, he pulled up to a warehouse once used as a toy factory. First Bank, which has its main computer building on McDonnell Boulevard in Hazelwood, is required by law to maintain a "disaster recovery center," a separate facility that houses a second set of its computer database in case of a catastrophe. The company had been contracting with an outside firm, which operated the center in the old Globe-Democrat building in downtown St. Louis, and wanted to set up its own.

"We were looking in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Houston," Dierberg said. "When the planes quit flying after 9/11, we thought we needed something closer to get our people here, so we decided upon Hermann."

The warehouse where First Bank has its disaster-recovery center sits on a bluff with a commanding view of Dierberg's long-term project for Hermann, the Missouri River.

"I'd like to see it used like the Danube, or any river in Europe," Dierberg said. "Sooner or later people are going to wake up and demand the fish, the wildlife, the birds, the recreation. Right now, it's used for barges.

"My goal is to see this town become one of the best in America. I think of Carmel, Calif. We want Hermann to be in that small group. It's not that difficult."

tuhlenbrock@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8268