History of Edmund Resch Reserve
The former site of Edmund Resch’s Waverley Brewery and the cornerstone of his business.
Edmund Resch Reserve is within the Moore Park Gardens apartment development between South Dowling and Bourke streets, Redfern.
Edmund Resch was born in Westphalia in 1847 and came to Australia at the age of 16.
After mining in Victoria and Cobar, he moved to Charters Towers where he ran a hotel. In 1879 he opened the Lion Brewery with branches in NSW country towns. He retired to Melbourne in 1892, but resumed business as a brewer in Sydney buying the Waverley Brewery in Bondi Junction and the NSW Lager Bier Company on this site. He transferred the Waverley Brewery name to the new complex he built here by 1900.
He was "brewer by appointment to His Excellency the Governor-General" from 1904 to 1914, but was declared an enemy alien in 1917. He died at his home The Swifts at Darling Point in 1923.
In 1929 Resch’s Waverley Brewery was taken over by Tooth and Co but the Resch’s brand continued for many years. Resch’s Dinner Ale was one of Sydney’s most popular beers for many decades. The brewery finally closed in 1983. Following demolition of most of the buildings, the site was redeveloped by Dealruby Pty Ltd as Moore Park Gardens apartments in the 1990s and this reserve within the development was opened in 1996.
In 1929 Resch’s Waverley Brewery was taken over by Tooth and Co but the Resch’s brand continued for many years. Resch’s Dinner Ale was one of Sydney’s most popular beers for many decades. The brewery finally closed in 1983. Following demolition of most of the buildings, the site was redeveloped by Dealruby Pty Ltd as Moore Park Gardens apartments in the 1990s and this reserve within the development was opened in 1996.
