Walter Schroeder
{{Short description|American hotel magnate}}
{{about||the German rower|Walter Schröder|the American politician|Walter G. Schroeder}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Walter Schroeder
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1878|05|19}}
| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|07|18|1878|05|19}}{{cite news |author= |date= July 19, 1967 |title= Rites Friday for Schroeder, Hotel Owner |work= Milwaukee Sentinel |location= |publisher= |pages= 5-7}}
| death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Businessman, hotel owner, insurance agent
| years_active = 1899–1967 (insurance), 1915–1967 (hotels)
}}
Walter Schroeder (May 19, 1878 – July 18, 1967) was an American hotel and insurance magnate, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Early life
Schroeder was born in Milwaukee, the son of German immigrant Christian Schroeder, who founded the insurance company Chris. Schroder & Son in 1888.{{cite book |last= Prestor |first= Richard |date= 1999 |title= Milwaukee, Wisconsin |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Milwaukee_Wisconsin/K-qHS8jxtV8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA16/ |location= Chicago |publisher= Arcadia Publishing |page= 16 |isbn= 978-1439627259|access-date= June 20, 2025}} Walter Schroeder's formal education ended with the eighth grade and he began working at age 14 as a clerk in the Office of the Milwaukee Register of Deeds.{{cite web |last= Byrne |first= Cael |date= March 26, 2024 |title= Milwaukee's Nearly-100-Year-Old Hilton City Center Nominated to Join the National Register of Historic Places |url= https://mediamilwaukee.com/features/hilton-city-center-nomination/ |website= Media Milwaukee |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= |access-date=}} Shortly after beginning work at the deed office, Schroeder also began working as a staff member of the Milwaukee Daily Reporter. Schroeder launched a competing paper two years later, the Daily Abstract, and later bought out the Reporter.{{cite web |author= |date= April 8, 2009 |title= Biography of Walter Schroeder |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130708174104/http://www.msoe.edu:80/library/about/biography.shtml |website= Milwaukee School of Engineering |location= Milwaukee, WI |access-date= July 8, 2013}}{{cite magazine |author= |date= 1900 |title= Milwaukee |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Newspaper_Directory/9c89AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1111 |magazine= American Newspaper Directory |location= New York |publisher= Rowell & Co. |page= 1111 |isbn= |access-date= June 20, 2025}} When Walter's older bother, William, died unexpectedly in 1899, he gradually left the newspaper business to join his father's company in his place.{{cite book |last= Bruce |first= William George |date= 1922 |title= History of Milwaukee, City and County, Volume 3 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Milwaukee_City_and_County/GkIVAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA657/ |location= Chicago |publisher= S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |page= 657 |isbn= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
Hotelier
File:Schroeder Hotels 1930s.jpg
In 1912, Chris. Schroeder & Son was asked to help finance construction of the Hotel Wisconsin, the largest of its kind in the state at that time, upon which Walter Schroeder decided to enter the hotel business.{{cite news |last= Tanzilo |first= Bobby |date= November 15, 2016 |title= Urban spelunking: Hotel Wisconsin |url= https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/urban-spelunking-hotel-wisconsin/ |work= OnMilwaukee |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= Andy Tarnoff |access-date= June 20, 2025}} After relocating his father's insurance firm relocated to offices in the State Bank of Wisconsin building in 1913, and following Christian Schroeder's death two years later, Schroeder took the reins of the company and branched off into hotel management.
Over the next fifteen years, Schroeder spearheaded the construction or acquisition of several properties in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Hotel Astor, near downtown Milwaukee, was completed in 1921, followed by the Hotel Retlaw in Fond du Lac in 1922. The Hotel Loraine in Madison opened in 1924 and was expanded just a year later.{{cite web |author= |date= June 3, 2021 |title= Hotel Loraine |url= https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=48309/ |website= Historical Marker Database |location= |publisher= J. J. Prats |access-date= June 20, 2025}} The Hotel Duluth in Duluth, Minnesota, Hotel Wausau in Wausau, Wisconsin, and Hotel Northland in Green Bay, all opened in 1925.{{cite web |last= Lundgren |first= Paul |date= May 22, 2025 |title= Hotel Duluth / Greysolon Plaza Centennial |url= https://www.perfectduluthday.com/2025/05/22/hotel-duluth-greysolon-plaza-centennial/ |website= Perfect Duluth Day |location= Duluth, MN |publisher= Paul Lundgren |access-date= June 20, 2025}}{{cite web |author= |date= February 2021 |title= Hotel Wausau Listed on the State Register of Historic Places |url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16548/ |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |location= Madison, Wi |publisher= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}{{cite web |author= |date= October 30, 2013 |title= 304 North Adams Street |url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2389/ |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |location= Madison, WI |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
The Hotel Schroeder, was completed at the corner of 5th and Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, in 1928, becoming the largest hotel property operated by the firm and the largest hotel in the city. In addition, Schroeder purchased and renovated existing hotels, including the Hotel Calumet in Fond du Lac and Hotel Vincent in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Hotel Wisconsin was also brought under the direct management of Schroeder through the Hotel Wisconsin Reality Company in the early 1920s and would remain in his possession for the following decades despite an operating deficit, suspicion of illegal transactions, and allegations of tax evasion made by the IRS in 1930.{{cite news |author= |date= June 5, 1934 |title= Bond Owners' Group Named |work= Milwaukee Journal |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= |page = 8}}{{cite book |author= United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit |date= August 15, 1930 |title= Hotel Wisconsin Realty Company vs. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Transcript of Record |url= https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102900524/|location= Chicago |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
Many of Schroeder's hotels were designed by architects Martin Tullgren and his son Herbert W. Tullgren (Astor, Retlaw, Loraine, Northland), while the Chicago-based firm Holabird & Roche was responsible for designing hotels Wausau and Schroeder.{{cite web |author= |date= May 17, 2024 |title= Hotel Schroeder Listed in the National Register of Historic Places |url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS17181/ |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |location= Madison, Wi |publisher= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
Faced with declining health, Schroeder sold most of his hotels to investors and chains uring the last years of his life. The Hotel Schroeder, for instance, was acquired by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts in 1964.{{cite web |last= Tanzilo |first= Bobby |date= March 4, 2014 |title= Urban spelunking: Schroeder Hotel/Hilton City Center |url= https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/hiltontour/ |website= OnMilwaukee |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= Andy Tarnoff |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
{{gallery
|height=150
|File:Astor on the Lake.jpg|Hotel Astor, Milwaukee, 1921
|File:Hotel Retlaw.jpg|Hotel Retlaw, Fond du Lac, 1922
|File:Former Hotel Loraine, Washington Avenue and Fairchild Street, Madison, WI (52734298905).jpg|Hotel Loraine, Madison, 1924
|File:Hotel Wausau.jpg|Hotel Wausau, Wausau, 1924-25
|File:Green Bay July 2024 083 (Hotel Northland).jpg|Hotel Northland, Green Bay, 1925
|File:Hilton Milwaukee City Center.jpg|Hotel Schroeder (now Hilton Milwaukee), 1928
}}
Philanthropy
Schroeder's foundation provided a $3 million grant to help fund the Milwaukee School of Engineering's Walter Schroeder Library in 1978. Other facilities named after Schroeder include the Walter Schroeder Lounge at the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center and the Olympic-size Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center of the Metro Milwaukee YMCA, in Brown Deer.{{cite web |last= Tanzilo |first= Bobby |date= December 7, 2021 |title= Urban spelunking: Scottish Rite Masonic Center & Plymouth Congregational Church |url= https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/scottish-rite-spelunking/ |website= OnMilwaukee |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= Andy Tarnoff |access-date= June 20, 2025}}{{cite web |author= |date= |title= Who was Walter Schroeder? |url= https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/wiwsac/page/about-wsac/who-was-walter/ |website= Schroeder Swim and Dive Team |location= Milwaukee, WI |publisher= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}
Ghost
Schroeder's ghost is said to haunt several locations, including the Hotel Retlaw, Aquatic Center, Hilton Milwaukee, and Schroeder Hall at Marquette University.{{cite web |author= |date= February 25, 2005 |title= Remember Me |url= https://www.thisamericanlife.org/283/remember-me/ |website= This American Life |location= New York |publisher= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}{{cite web |last= Hintz |first= Charlie |date= October 26, 2021 |title= The Many Hauntings of Walter Schroeder |url= https://www.wisconsinfrights.com/ghost-of-walter-schroeder/ |website= Wisconsin Frights |location= |publisher= |access-date= June 20, 2025}}