“The client for this project, Dr. Alois Wollenmann, was also an interesting and unique individual. Born in Neuenkirchen, Switzerland, according to his grandson, he studied medicine in Switzerland and then later, in Germany. After relocating to America, he became the doctor for the monks at Saint Meinrad, near Ferdinand, in southern Indiana. He continued his medical education at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine and, about the same time, met and married Fidelia Petronella Kempf. Her father taught at the University of Louisville School of Medicine but had previously served the community of Ferdinand as a physician. Dr. Kempf had moved to Ferdinand soon after its founding in 1840 by the noted German pioneer priest, Father Joseph Kundek. The couple moved to Ferdinand to begin a family.
Eventually Dr. Wollenmann established his practice in a building at the southwest corner of the block on which the present Wollenmann House is located. That building also housed the town’s first drug store and later, the Ferdinand Post Office. The enterprising Dr. Wollenmann operated both of them, plus a watch repair business. By 1903, Alois and Fidelia had two sons, Max and Werner, and were expecting a third child. When the new daughter was born, tragedy struck. Both the mother and child died. But Dr. Wollenmann stayed in the house until his death in June of 1912. The tradition of medical practice continued at the site through Alois and Fidelia’s sons. Their son Max became a doctor and Werner lived all his life in the home and operated a drug store in Ferdinand. After his death, his two daughters continued to own the property, until recent times.” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form)
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, and is currently home to the Main Street Bistro.
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