Join Our Partnership to
Help Restore The Gustave Koerner House
With your support the Koerner House will take its rightful place among the crown jewels of Illinois historic sites.
Print and fill out this Online FormYou are cordially invited to join our partnership. Your tax-exempt gift will accomplish two important things:
- it will contribute to the total dollars we must raise for renovations detailed on this website, and
- it will assure grantmakers that this project has the enthusiastic support of the community — residents, local historians, preservationists, Lincoln enthusiasts, Civil War buffs, genealogists, educators, -and all who will benefit from this unique interpretive site.
Please consider a contribution. We will be most grateful for whatever you can give.
The restoration of Belleville’s Gustave Koerner home, on Mascoutah Avenue at Abend Street, will stand as a testament to one of Belleville’s most illustrious citizens. Koerner joined Abraham Lincoln, Horace Greeley and others who, fired by the passions of the times, came together to create the Republican Party in 1856. Koerner became a close Lincoln confidant, helped write the 1860 Republican Party platform, and managed Lincoln’s drive to the presidential nomination at the party’s convention. Koerner was an ardent anti-slavery proponent and, as a German emigre, played a key role in allying western America’s German population with the Union cause.The Koerner House Restoration Committee engaged a team of consultants who prepared a Historic Structure Report. Selective demolition of the structure’s modern components commenced in May 2005. Once complete, the home will be opened as a museum, where Koerner’s life and political career will be interpreted.
2023 Christkindlmarkt December $160; IPAD raffle $2727; donations Jamie Kiggen $500, David Gerber $485.06, Dr Ami Taylor $350, Bank of Belleville $125, Betty Brauer $193.73,
2022 Yard sale $599.95; Christkindlmarkt December $450; IPAD raffle $3200, Donations Bank of Belleville $125, David Gerber $193.73
2018 Christkindlmarkt December $498.66; trivia night $1319; quilt raffle $2104, donation John Siemens $485
2019 Christkindlmarkt December $615; Indoor yard sale $1426; Quilt raffle $2486; donation Ann Weidman $100
2021 Indoor Yard sale $2164; IPAD raffle $2885; donations Dr. Ami Taylor 100, Bob Dintleman $50. Judy Belleville $500, Bank of Belleville $125,David Gerber $107
2024 IPAD raffle $4705; donations Alan Elfrink $100, Ann Weidman $500, Jeff Rombauer $100, Bank of Belleville $150, David Gerber $485.06
- Koerner Illinois Baseball Cup
Trivia Night 2013 raised $1598
Got Gold? Raised $350
Cornice Club (paint campaign) 2012 raised $15,280 href=”https://gustavekoerner.org/cornice.jpg”>/a>
Civil War Descendant Project 2003-2011 raised $1250.
Read synopses of these soldiers’ pension files: Henry Briesacher Christian Briesacher Friedrich Henry George Kerber Herman Schmenk Nicolaus Schmidt Henry Scheuermann.Trivia Night 2011 raised $6321
200th Birthday Celebration 2009 raised $20,000 Read about it
November 20-21, 2009, we observed Gustave Koerner’s 200th birthday. It was also a family reunion for Koerner-Engelmann descendants. Koerner Rombauer, founder of Rombauer Vineyards of St. Helena, California, and his family attended the dinner at Bellecourt Place in downtown Belleville. A special Koerner House cake was one of the highlights of the evening.
Sam Adams came from Boston and presented a silver plated tray to Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert, a strong supporter of Koerner House. The tray was a gift from the Queen of Spain, acknowledging Gustave Koerner’s service as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, the formal title for Ambassador to Spain, 1862-64.
Gustave Koerner’s fencing sword from his university days was displayed by Andrew Cooperman.
Part of the entertainment was a fencing demonstration put on by members of the Boy Scouts of America.
Wolfgang Stueken, at right, a German researcher who provided exhaustive background on Koerner’s years in his native land, took the birthday party as an occasion to present a special gift to the Koerner House Committee. It was an original copy of a letter from a leading German politician to Gustave Koerner which Wolfgang found in a New York bookstore.
Speakers presented vignettes of Gustave Koerner’s career. Wolf Fuhrig of Jacksonville, Illinois, center, a retired history professor, spoke about Koerner’s connection to Lincoln.
Professor Steven Rowan of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, lower right, who provided research on Koerner’s early years in Illinois, also spoke at the dinner.
Mary Armstrong of Michigan, a contributor to Koerner family research also attended. Irma Rombauer, who married a grandson of Augusta Koerner, Gustave and Sophie’s daughter, wrote the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook. A Rombauer Vineyards wine bottle, a cookbook and the Koerner House cake made a nice memory of the birthday dinner.
The next day the descendants visited Walnut Hill Cemetery to plant a tree at the Koerner family plot. Thanks to all descendants and presenters at the dinner for making it a memorable evening. Here the Koerner Rombauer family poses after planting a memorial tree at the Koerner family burial plot on November 21, 2009.
Window Campaign 2009 raised $37,500.00
Sophie’s Tea 2008 raised $1200.00 Visions of Old Belleville Art Auction and Sale 2007 raised $11,527.00 Trivia Night 2007 raised $4100.00
Sophie’s Tea 2006 raised $2000.00
Trivia Night 2006 raised $3500.00
Civil War Era Band Concert and Benefit Dinner 2005 raised $7714.00 Belle of the Milkmaid Contest 2005 raised $22,000 >
Sophie’s Tea 2005 raised $2000.00
Old Belleville Day 2005 – An Awareness Event
Gov. Koerner Birthday Gala 2003 raised $17,030
Koerner House Concert 2003 raised $1650
St. Nicholas Cotillion 2002 raised $20,000