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
  Residence	1918	42 Charles St. E., 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	9 Jun 2025

  
  

• 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 ____________ The Merchants Rubber Co. makes a special pair of rubbers for Charles Pritschau, a newcomer to the city. Mr. Pritschau is six feet, 8½ inches tall and is "the biggest man with the biggest feet in Berlin." The rubbers are size 17 and measure 14½ inches from heel to toe. A native of Germany, Mr. Pritschau was one of Kaiser's bodyguards. _________ PRITSCHAU'S CAR HAS RETURNED Police Have It And Proceeds Of Sale Will Go Towards Paying Back Taxes, Car in Toronto. Charlie Pritachau's familiar runabout, in which he was wont to lumber around Kitchener in better days, has returned to the city but, alas it's former owner is still an absentee and no one hereabouts can fill, entirely, his place! The car breezed in late yesterday afternoon from Toronto in charge of Allan Wettlaufer while Martin Huenergard, the assessment commissioner, sat in the one seater with a smiling face for beside him sat the arm of the law in the person of Chief O'Neill. Therefore none could dispute the right of Mr. Huenergard to the car as the said gentleman wanted to sell the "bus" to pay for Pritschau's unpaid taxes, No wonder Martin smiled for the taxes amount to $416 and what appeared to be a dead loss will now be turned into assets. A short while ago the Toronto police, who had been making inquiries about the car which was stored in a Toronto garage, notified the local authorities of the whereabouts of the car. Accordingly yesterday the three aforementioned steamed out of Kitchener on the Grand Trunk yesterday morning but they travelled back in state in Charlie's Studebaker, that is except when they hit the real bumpy stretches of road. Then they thought they were crossing the English Channel in a rowboat but they managed to get thru without serious mishap and moored the craft close to the city halil. It cost the party just $127 to settle the storage bill for Pritschau, when he skipped last July simply ran the car into a Temperance street garage and walked away. Why he chose a "Temperance" garage is more than local people can understand. Perhaps he had to have his little joke before he disappeared. Kitchener Daily Record, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Thu, Apr 28, 1921 Page 1 ______________ CHARLIE HAD "REP" AS GOOD SWINDLER Pritchau Put Over Some Big Deals In Germany Before Coming Here, Was Great Favorite Of Crown Prince. Mr. Paul Rietkoetter, 954 West King street, is in receipt of a letter from his brother in Hagen, Westphalia, with very interesting information in connection with Charles Pritschau, once a prominent local citizen, indcating that Charlie was an adept at the game he played here long before he came to this country. The portion of the letter referring to the late lamented is as follows: "Pritschau disappeared many years ago from this vicinity in company with Berlin lady teacher. He went to the United States where he was naturalized. Later he returned to Duesseldorf and busied himself with real estate transactions. "With the assistance of a notary he issued mortgages on houses which did not belong to him, or had the amounts of such mortgages made higher than allowed by law. He was connected with schemes of wholesale trickery until matters became too warm, when he left for foreign realms. He was considered a professional swindler and an expert in real estate frauds. "After serving in the bodyguard at Potsdam he became, it is said, very intimate with the crown prince who was accustomed to call him "My dear Pritschau!" A wholesale merchant in Duesseldorf who knew Pritschau well has given me all the above information." Mr. Jos. Rietkoetter, the writer of the letter referred to above, lived in Kitchener a few years ago and was one of the first employes in the Dominion tire factory. He went to the United States later on and returned to Germany last July. Kitchener Daily Record, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Thu, Apr 28, 1921 Page 1 ______________ RECEIVING SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR AVIATOR Mr. Charles Pritschau, of the city, has started a good stunt. He has begun a subscription list for Captain White, the aviator who is making his headquarters here and whose machine was incapacitated slightly this morning when the motor was not working properly and the machine. struck a tree on the property of Mr. Nyberg at the east end. Mr. Pritschau has given a handsome sum has starter given for a as a the purpose which is being fo1lowed by others. About $200 had been secured up to this noon. There is a measure of satisfaction in this for Mr. Pritschau after he learned he could not enjoy the privilege of going up to the regions where the little birds have had everything to themselves up to the time of the aviator's arrival. Machines are built to carry a big load but there is a limit and it is said that Mr. Pritschau is out of this limit but it is not his fault that he is. Perhaps in another year from now aviators will have a winged machine which can shoot across the sky even with a ton weight. The News Record, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Wed, Jun 18, 1919 Page 1

  
  

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