Brewer Otto Koehler married Emma and the Koehlers immigrated from Germany to San Antonio in 1884 to join the Texas beer industry boom. In 1910, when Emma K was in an automobile accident, Otto hired Emma Dumke to be her nurse. She and her tall, blonde friend, Emma Burgemeister, who was also a nurse, cared for Emma and Otto. All went well for the four of them until Otto got himself murdered. Emma B was arrested, and her trial is the subject of a book about one of Bexar County’s most notorious love triangles. After Emma Burgemesiter was found not guilty by a jury of twelve men, she married one of those jurors and they moved into a little house on Hunstock Avenue in Southside San Antonio. Otto’s other attractive nurse, Emma D, aka “Emmi,” dropped out of sight. Emma Koehler became the heroine of the Pearl Brewery, and the rest of our story is about love for the Hotel Emma.
