The Casper Duetmann Bakery Building contributes to the significance of the Over-the-Rhine Historic District.
Over-the-Rhine is one of America's largest and most cohesive surviving examples of an urban, nineteenth-century community, with an outstanding collection of commercial, residential, religious and civic architecture. It is the nationts most intact symbol of German-American community development in the 19th century. In 1983 much of the neighborhood was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in recognition of its exceptional 19th-century architecture and its association with successive waves of German immigration. Encompassing over 1,200 buildings on 362 acres, Over-the-Rhine is Cincinnati's largest historic district.
Little altered in over a hundred years, the neighborhood maintains a strong sense of place. Its dense urban pattern reflects the high population density of mid-19th century
Cincinnati. Rows of buildings, typically three to five stories high, line the streets, often rising directly from the sidewalk. Many have ground-floor storefronts and upper-story apartments. The district boasts the largest collection of Italianate buildings in America, along with many good examples of the Federal, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Renaissance styles, as well as large numbers of urban vernacular structures. Most were built c. 1840 to 1890. Many Over-the-Rhine residents achieved prominence in industry, government, medicine, education, music and brewing.
The Casper Duetmann Bakery Building contributes to the significance of the Over-the Rhine Historic District as a good example of the Italianate mode, the district's dominant architectural style. As a multi-story, mixed-use building rising directly from the sidewalk, it represents one of the most common building types in the district. It is consistent in style, scale, setback and materials with neighboring buildings. It is notable for its stone storefront and its richly detailed cornice and window hoods.The building is largely unaltered above the first story.
The Duetmann building appears in its present form on the 1883-I 883 Cincinnati atlas, with no identifying label. It is also indicated on the 1887 Cincinnati Sanborn map, labeled "Bakery." It is depicted on the Sanborn map as a three-story brick building of rectangular footprint, with fire-resistant roof, metal cornice, and three-tier rear veranda. The bake oven (no longer extant) was housed in the rear yard, directly behind the building.
The I 100 block of Broadway is part of the J. Ferneding Subdivision, which was platted in the 1840s by the Reverend Joseph Ferneding, a German-American Catholic priest active in the development of German immigrant parishes. The Ferneding plat became the
nucleus of a sub-neighborhood called Pendleton, which develed as a predominantly German-American, largely Catholic community in the mid-19 century.
Hamilton County auditor's records indicate that the Duetmann building, like many in Over-the-Rhine, changed hands often throughout the 20th century. Lucille Westerkamp purchased the building in 1940; she owned it until 1953, when it was sold to Albert H. Suesser and then to M.S.Schulzinger.The Benet Realty Company bought the building in 1954 and Morris S. Schulzinger (who may have been the same person who bought the building five years earlier) in 1959.
Williams' Cincinnati City Directories indicate that the Casper Duetmann Bakery occupied the building's storefront as of 1879. Duetmann also owned a bakery on nearby Abigail Street. Neither was still in operation as of 1907. The 1930 City Directory lists the following tenants for 111 l Broadway:Charles Hoffinan, billiards; Maynard Culver, dishwasher; Elizabeth Dutrnann; and Roy Mills, mechanic.
