1989 Newspaper Article
"Berks inn continues 137-year-old tradition"
The year is 1872. A weary Conestoga wagoner hauling freight from the Delaware
to Pittsburgh stops outside the Moselem Springs Hotel, he quarters his team
with 11 others at the adjacent livery stable and joins fellow travelers
and local citizenry for an old-fashioned dinner.
The hotel, which operates self-sufficiently like a tiny town, has a general store, post office, and seven boarding rooms in addition to a dining room and bar.
After dinner the guests produce musical instruments, and the singing and dancing begin. Late arrivals will sleep in the barroom that night because the 20-year-old-hotel is filled beyond capacity. Nobody minds: they feel fortunate to enjoy the hospitality and fellowship for which this favorite rest stop is already famous.
Ten years later, Joel Liebensperger takes over his father Jacob's business. He will operate the hotel for 60 years, overseeing many improvements including the expansion of the general store; the addition of a blacksmith shop, a creamery, a smokehouse, and modern conveniences such as bathtubs.
He holds tightly to his father's traditions, concentrating on the comfort and convenience of his guests and serving the finest Berks County cuisine.
In December, 1929, the Liebensperger family reopens the Moselem Springs Hotel, which had burned to the ground in March. The historic 1852 structure was devastated by flames so hot and winds so fierce that woodwork and glass at the Elmer Kline house across the highway were scorched.
Only the side and back walls of the structure remain. Efforts to salvage the brick were abandoned when swaying walls threaten the worker's lives.
The Leibenspergers promise the prettiest structure of its kind between Kutztown and Reading and rebuild the hotel, with some modifications, on the old foundation.
A traveler approaching the newly rebuilt hotel notices the new-fangled compressed gas lamps cantilevered from the double post pillars which support a porch extending along the north and east sides of the structure.
Architects Wayne and John High of Reading used 10 double post pillars to support the new porch, which is topped with a balcony. The 75- by 55-foot wide structure is shallower that the old hotel to make room for the porch.
Inside, the traveler finds a lobby with a cozy fireplace and finely finished walls in the southwest corner, a refreshment room in the southeast corner, and a dining room and kitchen in the rear. Plans for a general store never materialized as Elmer Kline, former proprietor, has moved his business to Kutztown following the fire.
Restrooms are located indoors on the first floor, and a staircase leads to seven guest rooms which now have running water.
Eventually the Leibensperger family sells the property to the Bowerses of Chester, and the business within passes through many hands and managers.
Walter and Madeline Stoudt, who buy the business in 1962, are responsible for its transformation from a rustic, country hotel to a more comfortable, sophisticated restaurant. Somewhere along the way, the name changes from hotel to inn, but overnight guest accommodations are no longer available.
The Stoudts, members of the Worldwide Church of God, closed the restaurant every Friday at sundown until after sundown every Saturday in observance of their Sabbath. They did not have enough time to re-open for a Saturday night trade after sundown so the restaurant remained closed every Friday and Saturday night during their ownership.
Against this background of history and change, Carl and Jean Ziegler of Kutztown buy the Moselem Springs Inn, its land, and business, in 1979, and continue to build upon its tradition of fine food and hospitality. Ziegler always wanted his own business, and when the inn became available from the Naomi Bowers estate, he seized the opportunity.
The dream to expand the inn was almost immediate, but the final decision was hardly spur of the moment. He recognized the responsibility associated with owning one of the best-known Berks County landmarks and the need to preserve its architectural heritage while improving his ability to serve his customers.
"I have seen many additions which downgrade or overwhelm the historical aspects of the original facility", he said. "I was extremely concerned about anything I did archecturally.
"When I chose to pursue expansion seriously, I was referred to Chris Weber (Christian A. Weber, The Weber Group). I wanted an architect that was more than professionally competent. I wanted one that was sincerely interested in maintaining the integrity of the original structure.
Then plans began for the addition to the restaurant which included a new main entrance and lobby, dining and banquet rooms, cocktail lounge, waiting rooms, restrooms, and a new kitchen.
The challenge for Ziegler was equal to acquiring the business 10 years earlier.
"The original facilities were so well-matched - the seating capacity, the kitchen size, the amout of parking - I realized I couldn't just add a room and 20 seats," he said. "Anything I did had to be complete. I needed to build another restaurant, which is what we have done.
The floor space had to be tripled without dominating the original structure. This is accomplished by cleverly concealing a cathedral ceiling behing a facade which appears to be a diminutive two-story structure. A pitched roof facing the street also hides the main flat roof built over the dining areas and the new kitchen.
Numerous practical considerations confronted Ziegler when the work began.
"We had to construct around a business which is open 7 days a week," he said. "We had a lot of people working at 3 a.m.
"Less obstructive jobs were done during business hours. Remodeling the former kitchen area to expand our Presidential Room all took place between 11p.m. and 11a.m."
In spite of the enormous undertaking, the restaurant closed only one day when switching from the old to the new kitchen. Warren H. Ziegler, Carl's uncle, was the construction contractor, and A.P. Merkel Co. provided the plumbing.
Another concern during the transition was the quality of service for which Ziegler takes pride in at the Moselem Springs Inn.
"People come to a restaurant for great food and a comfortable, attractive atmosphere," he said. "However, whether they enjou their experience depends upon the much less tangible aspects of service. I stress sincerity coupled with a professional attitude for my staff: a personable yet well-trained approach."
The project had iths lighter moments. As the addition started to take form, rumors about its intended use circulated, the most persistant one being a dinner theater.
"Even as people were coming into the restaurant they would look around and say,"Where's the dinner theater?" he said. "The cathedral ceiling presumably was needed for the lights and projection. Some people were very dissapointed because they came in knowing this to be a fact."
The year is 1989. The tradition of the Moselem Springs Inn begins its 137th year.
A guest arrives at its east entrance and is discharged under a covered portico. Inside the vesibule, she is greeted by a hostess and proceeds into the lobby to meet her party.
Her friends wait in comfortable wing chairs placed before the glowing fireplace. The decor is reminiscent of Williamsburg with its columns, detailed woodwork, cherry board and batten wainscoting, and Chippendale-style furniture.
The party moves toward the cocktail lounge with iths open beamed 25 foot cathedral ceiling and rustic country atmosphere. Opposite the lounge they hear a harpist entertaining in the banquet room. The 40- by 70- foot room, usually divided into three smaller dining rooms by moveable panels, has been opened to accomodate 140 guests.
Traveling south through the corridor, the guests pass into the original structure. The charming rustic Golden Eagle room on their left was once the country store and post office, the elegant foyer served as the barroom, and the refined colonial Blue Willow Room was the hotel main lobby. The elegant Presidential Room used to be two smaller dining rooms and the kitchen.
Behind the scene Chef Michael Mutter oversees food preparation in the modern kitchen. The menu features American cuisine, local Pennsylvania Dutch fare, and meats smoked in the premises by Tommy Meyers. Assistant Manager Gloria Gerhard and a staff of 60 employees attend to the guests.
Ziegler contemplates his goals for the inn- to maintain its sense of antiquity, to provide his guests with an experience, and to extend the hospitality long associated with this famous Berks County hostelry. And the tradition continues.
