Background
Max Henius was born in Aalborg, Denmark. His father immigrated from Poland to Denmark in 1837 and founded De Danske Spritfabrikker, a Danish distillery which is now part of V&South Group. His father sold the distillery that same year.
chemist founder brewing institute
Max Henius was born in Aalborg, Denmark. His father immigrated from Poland to Denmark in 1837 and founded De Danske Spritfabrikker, a Danish distillery which is now part of V&South Group. His father sold the distillery that same year.
Max Henius was educated at the Aalborg Latin School and went on to study at the Polytechnic Institute in Hanover, Germany He attended the University of Marburg, earning his Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry during 1881.
Max Henius co-founded the American Academy of Brewing in Chicago. Isidor Henius also owner a small castle in Aalborg, now called Sohngaardsholm Slot. Since 2005, it has been the site of a gourmet restaurant.
Max Henius subsequently immigrated from Aalborg to the United States in 1881 at the age of 22, settling in Chicago.
In 1886, he opened a drug store. Subsequently he formed Wahl & Henius, an institute for chemical and mechanical analysis, with his former schoolmate, Robert Wahl (1858-1937).
Founded in 1891, the Chicago-based American Brewing Academy (later known as the Wahl-Henius Institute of Fermentology) was one of the premier brewing schools of the pre-prohibition era. This institute was later expanded with a brew master school that operated until 1921.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Max Henius became interested in Danish-American organizations in Chicago.
Funds were being raised by Danish Americans to purchase to 200 acres (081 km2) of heather-covered hills, located in part of Rold Forest (Danish: Rold Skov), Denmark"s largest forest. In 1912 Max Henius presented the deed to Her Majesty King Christian X as a permanent memorial from Danish Americans. Rebild National Park (Danish:Rebild Bakker) is today a Danish national park situated near the town of Skørping in Rebild municipality, Region Nordjylland in northern Jutland, Denmark.
Every July 4 since 1912, except during the two world wars, large crowds have gathered in the heather-covered hills of Rebild to celebrate American Independence Day.
On the slope north of Rebild, where the residence of Max Henius was once located, a bust was placed in his memory.
Fellow Chemical Society, London. Commander Order of Dannebrog, Denmark, 1911. Member American and Danish Brewers’ Associations, 1932.
Joint author: American Handy Book of Brewing, 1902.
Married Johanne Louise Heiberg, Aalborg, June 4, 1883. Children: Henry R., Emil Theodor, Gerda.