After nearly 150 years, the parties are still going strong at this local business
EVANSVILLE – Weddings, company picnics, reunions, bonfires and birthday parties – summer and fall are the seasons for outdoor gatherings.
The Bauerhaus – or Bauer’s Grove, as the old timers call it – has been a gathering place for outdoor parties for almost 150 years. Here are some facts you might not know about this long-time Darmstadt staple.
Five generations in
The Bauer family has owned the land, and then the business, for five generations with the sixth incoming. Jim and Christy Bauer are the current owners. “Bauer” means “farmer” in German, and “Bauerhaus” means “farmhouse.”
It began as a church potluck
Jim Bauer said that according to his grandfather, Raymond Bauer, Jim’s great-great grandfather, Michael Bauer, came from Darmstadt, Germany, as a young man in 1880. In Indiana's Darmstadt, Michael's first wife was a member of Salem Church, and his second wife a member of Trinity Lutheran.
Legend has it that the leaders of the churches, in an effort at togetherness, found the exact center point between their doors. It was on Bauer's land, and they gathered there for Sunday potluck meals beginning in the late 1800’s.
Bauer's Grove
As the years passed, the area became an unofficial community park called Bauer's Grove. The family built some platforms for dining, then put a roof over one, and in 1940 Jim’s grandfather Raymond put down the maple dance floor that is still in the Bauerhaus today.
Over it, he erected a barnlike building with potbelly stoves for heat that was the home for area square dance clubs, weddings and whatever other gatherings the locals might have.
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Bavarian style
The current building was constructed in 1985 in half-timbered Bavarian style down to window boxes planted with hundreds of geraniums. Indoors it can hold groups of 20 to 550 on two levels. The Bauer family still owns 75 acres and keeps 15 of them meticulously landscaped and maintained for outdoor functions at The Bauerhaus.
It hosts one group at a time
Only one group is scheduled on the site at a time. That means that if a client schedules an outdoor event and the weather does not cooperate, a last-minute call can be made to move indoors.
A full-time staff year-round
All services are provided on site with a culinary team, pastry chef, and bartending staff, and all the set up and clean up is done with in-house staff. Ceremonies can be performed on site. The Bauerhaus keeps a full time year-round staff of 25 which increases to 75-80 in the busy summer months.
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A full menu
On the menu, choose from brunch, breakfast, cocktail parties with appetizers, box lunches, dinner buffets and banquets, picnic food, desserts, and more. Menu items range the gamut from steak and seafood to wrap sandwiches, from charcuterie boards to wedding cakes. The house tropical meatballs in mango sauce and creamy chicken Florentine alfredo with roasted red peppers and spinach are two of the favorites. Each menu is customized with the client.
There's off-site catering too
Jim added off-site catering, and the Bauerhaus services locations within a 100 mile radius. A group of anywhere from 10 or 15 people up to a 1000 people may have a five course plated banquet; an outdoor picnic with fried chicken, cotton candy and a bar; or round-the-clock hot shift meal deliveries to a workplace.
The Bauerhaus
Location: 13605 Darmstadt Road
Phone: The Bauerhaus, 812-867-3169; The Bauerhaus Catering and Pastry, 812-759-9000
Website: thebauerhaus.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: The Bauerhaus in Darmstadt has been hosting parties for over 100 years
