Joann Ringelstetter has identified this schoolhouse as the first in Wittenberg, Shawano County, built-in 1882. She has said the community began using it as a town hall in 1920. It even had a jail in the back room. It was marked for demolition. Bob Nueske bought it in 1992 and moved it to its current location. It took eight years to restore it.
It is a Schoolhouse Market, a market for locally sourced foods, clothing, and treats from over 80 Wisconsin vendors. It has been referred to as the Schoolhouse Market.
Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meat of Wittenberg is a well-known company in Wittenberg, specializing in smoked meats, especially Applewood smoked meats.
Carla Strassburg, a president of the Wittenberg Historical Society, has said the society has found the community once had 57 one-room houses. They were all combined into the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District. She has commented,
“(Think of) how important people back then thought (the schoolhouse) was. They were willing to put forth effort to make sure students could learn. Families and neighbors would cut firewood; they would help clean with special events; and it puts a light on what’s going on today in education. “
