John Bramm
Inducted In
1972
John Bramm was Berlin’s first brickmaker, his factory being located on the land on which Zion United Church, Weber Street, was built. He started the factory in 1845, the year in which he came from Germany.
The bricks for wells, houses and stores were taken to their location by a team of oxen. 500 bricks sold for $3.75. In 1880 Bramm employed six men, their weekly wages totalling $40.
In 1880 Bramm purchased the Doering steam grist mill on Queen Street South and operated it with his sons. Hundreds of cords of wood were purchased from local farmers for the operation of the mill and brickyard. The Bramm brothers operated the mill until 1907 and it is, in 1972, the Kissner Milling Company.
Bramm was also a private banker, lending money at interest rates of 6 ½ to 7%.