Charles G. "Big Charlie" Pritschau

1880 - Yes, date unknown

• Name	Charles G. "Big Charlie" Pritschau
  Born	CA 1880	, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	swindle, crime, disppearance
  Residence	1918	42 Alma St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Misfortune	1920
  	missing
  	Charlie Pritschau. Charlie was a real estate agent (probably the largest man physically in Waterloo County) in the early part of the twentieth century. Older residents recalled him as probably six foot 10 inches tall and weighing about three hundred and fifty pounds. Many stories told of his tremendous appetite. He drove a specially-built car. Charlie Pritschau disappeared during the First World War. His car was found abandoned. [it is reported that he went back to Germany, leaving investors losing money] Old factory smoke : Berlin, Ontario by Robert Glover
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-14115
  Died	Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I14115	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

• Photos

  Charles "Big Charlie" Pritschau

  
  

• Notes

  Kitchener's 125th Anniversary Edition Giant Charlie Pritschau with an unidentified friend before he disappeared in 1915. Charlie Pritschau ranks as the biggest swindler By HENRY KOCH Record Business Editor Whatever happened to the legendary Charlie Pritschau? Some of Kitchener's old-timers are still wondering where he disappeared to. Others have long forgotten they willingly lent him "thousands" which they never saw again. Still others remember him as a man who inspired confidence. Pritschau, described as a charming fellow, was one of Kitchener's biggest swindlers, certainly in physical stature. He was at least seven feet, four inches tall, weighed about 375 pounds, wore size 18 shoes and got around in a specially-built model T cabriolet Ford. A native of Germany who spoke cultured English, he was "possibly the largest man ever. seen in these parts," according to a newspaper clipping in 1943. He arrived in Kitchener (then Berlin) around 1908, represented himself as a real estate broker, bought and sold land and buildings, took options on properties from Preston to Elmira, endeared himself to the community, borrowed money from dozens of well-to-do local and area citizens and disappeared in the summer of 1915, never to be seen again. How much money he took from unsuspecting businessmen and others will never be known, but the amount has been reported as "substantial." He was described as a smooth talker with a pleasing personality who worked his way into the confidence of many prominent local people. After he established himself, the German giant started seeking small loans. For example, he would go to a farmer and ask to borrow several hundred dollars for a few days. When the few days expired, he would return and not only pay back the money, but substantial interest as well. The word soon spread that Charlie Pritschau was a man of his word and generous as well. He was a popular figure at auction sales and often came to the rescue of some poor farmer who wanted to buy a certain cow and horse, but who could not afford to keep up with the bidding. One story is told of a farmer who was bidding on a certain cow. Pritschau noticed him drop out of the bidding and so he bought the cow himself and gave it to the farmer. "Pay me back whenever you can," he told the surprised farmer. As stories circulated about the high interest paid by Pritschau on money he borrowed, it was easy for him to get money and the amounts he borrowed kept increasing. One farmer, who later lost all he owned, went so far as to back blank promissory notes for Pritschau. Near the end of his Kitchener stay, Pritschau started going away from the city for a day or two. His visits to out-of-town points increased, as did the length of his stays. Soon his absence from the city for weeks at a time created suspicion. Finally, he went away for a "visit" in the summer of 1915 and never returned. His car was found in a Toronto garage. Irvin Erb, 82, of 202 MacDonald Place, Waterloo, a local insurance man for 60 years, remembers Pritschau well. Erb was the tire adjuster for Dominion Rubber Co. Ltd. (now Uniroyal Ltd.) in an office on King Street West across from the Lyric Theatre in 1915 and Pritschau used to visit his office frequently, sometimes twice a week. "He would have to stoop to get through the door and used my counter, which was 1½ feet higher than a desk, as a chair. His feet would touch the floor. His shoes were about 18 inches long. I owned a pair of his shoes, lent them to somebody for a masquerade party and they disappeared." Erb remembers Pritschau as having the peculiar habit of always driving the front right wheel of his model T close to the curb on King Street when he wanted to park "while the back end always stuck out about three feet. He would get out of the car, pick the back end up and lift it close to the curb. He was a bit of a showoff." Erb was never able to find out what part of Germany Pritschau came from or what he did before he came to Kitchener. "I lived all over Germany," he told Erb. "He had a deep voice and spoke excellent English as well as German. He must have been educated in an English college. I really believe he was one of the Kaiser's guards." Pritschau took options on property all over this area. "He made Olsen and Wiebe look like kindergarten kids in this department." Erb remembers Pritschau as a classy dresser in his late 40s who enjoyed living in style. "He had an eight-foot tub brought in to the place where he was living on Eby Street, bought himself a nine-foot heavy oak leather covered couch and even his car had a leather roof." Pritschau would eat three or four roasted chickens for dinner, wash this down with a case of beer and soak in his tub for relaxation. "He got known around town as Big Charlie and everybody had all kinds of confidence in him. He always had something good to say about everybody and you couldn't help but like him. We became good friends." He told Erb Kitchener had the hardest-working people he had ever seen anywhere. "A lot of people were surprised when he disappeared. Some said he went to the United States and others that he went back to Germany." Some years after his disappearance from Kitchener visitors from Germany told people here of a man resembling Pritschau who had swindled Germans out of thousands of dollars. The Record carried the story and used this heading: "Is this our Charlie?" Henry Koch - Kitchener-Waterloo Record Jun 1979

  
  

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  Born - CA 1880 - , Germany  = Link to Google Earth