Rosery Flower Co. c. 1916--PHOTO COURTESY Esplanade Archives
Who knew that the combination of the best sun in the country, readily available natural gas and good transportation links would lead to a major greenhouse industry in Medicine Hat and Redcliff? Well, Edward Ueberrhein did.
Born in Posen, Prussia (now Poland) in 1869, Edward Carl Julius Ueberrhein trained as a gardener and moved to Berlin. He and a fellow gardener responded to an ad seeking German gardeners to work in Newfoundland and found themselves in St. John’s about 1898. Ueberrhein returned to Germany to marry his sweetheart, Juliana Müller, in 1900 and they emigrated together.
They started a family (Elizabeth and Arthur) in St. John’s before moving to Winnipeg by 1905. Two more children (William and Clara) were born there but the greenhouse where he was working was sold during a real estate boom. So Edward answered the call of a syndicate to come to Medicine Hat and manage a greenhouse, arriving in 1907. He set up the greenhouse but the syndicate was not successful. In 1909, Ed Ueberrhein was able to purchase the operation on favourable terms and called it the Rosery Flower Co. It grew quickly in size, and at its peak was the second largest greenhouse in Canada with 8 ha under glass. Ueberrhein invested in other businesses, including Burnside and Golden Valley Farms and the Medicine Hat Brick and Tile, although he admitted losing a lot of money in the pre-war real estate bubble.
When the war started, he was a conspicuous German businessman. Despite his loyalty to Canada, when the 13th Mounted Rifles stationed in the Hat were re-assigned to infantry, they rioted and the target of their anger was his greenhouse, smashing 2000 panes of glass. There were other incidents of rock-throwing and an attempt to set fire to his house. The Cypress Club shamefully asked him to resign as a member.
After the war, he had a magnificent Arts and Crafts style home (the designated Ueberrhein Dumanowski Residence) built in 1921, employing craftsmen from Germany to finish the interior woodwork. However, Juliana died in August 1921, before completion. Ueberrhein went to visit family in Germany, and while there, his youngest daughter, Margaret (born in 1912 in the Hat), died back home in January 1922.
Ueberrhein remarried to Clara Zenner in Germany in 1924. In 1926, he was re-admitted to the Cypress Club and elected Vice-President. Then, in 1928, he sold the Rosery Greenhouses to a Calgary syndicate for a good sum and retired to Vancouver. In an undated newspaper article, he claimed that he paid more in income taxes than the Prime Minister received in salary. The Medicine Hat Greenhouses operated until its demolition for housing in 1991.
A smart and hardworking businessman, he saw then what we are rediscovering: our natural advantages of sun, gas and transportation links to create a successful greenhouse industry.
Malcolm Sissons is vice-president of the Historical Society of Medicine Hat and District.
