After suffering multiple catastrophic fires, the Berlin Tannery, built in 1857, would go on to have a diverse and interesting future. After becoming the first ever cranberry storage location in Wisconsin, it would later go on to house three different leather tanneries. With each one experiencing a fire, the first two were so catastrophic they caused the companies to go under. The third company, however, was able to rebuild and stay open until 1987. The site would then remain vacant until 2000 when Daniel Hoppa, the current owner, purchased the building. He would spend ten years rebuilding, turning it into a site for paranormal investigations.
“Craig (the leader of the Fox Valley Ghost Hunters) had asked if there’d ever been any paranormal activity here, and, of course, my friend had no idea whether we did or not. Anyways, he reached out to me, he started doing paranormal investigations, and he was here for about two years. We talked, and we came up with maybe doing a haunted house,” Hoppa said.
The tannery has been a staple in the Berlin community’s Halloween fun for nine out of the twelve years it has been running.
“It’s been off and on for 12 years. I think we had nine years that we were actually open and running. There was a lull in there a couple of times,” Hoppa said.
For the students of Berlin, the Haunt was not only a fun way to enjoy a good scare. It was also a great opportunity for them to get involved in the spirit of Halloween as well.
“I worked there for two years…2023. I was just stuck in one room throughout the entire thing, trying to scare people with a crazy act. Then in 2024, I was running the show, so I was in almost every single room,” senior Aiden Armstrong said.
The experience brings fond memories for the past staff to look back on.
“My favorite part probably would be when I actually scared a whole bunch of people,” Armstrong said.
The event needs someone to manage it, and with no one available, it was unable to run.
“I’ve always been at least 50% involved in the haunted houses as a rule, but never wanted to take on the role of being the manager of the haunted house. So, we get to this year where we were not able to find a manager to actually run a haunted house. That’s why we are not in operation,” Hoppa said.
Traditions, like the Haunted Tannery coming to an end, can be a sad and disappointing thing, even for people who have only experienced them once.
“I was disappointed. I would have gone back,” sophomore Pearl Kujawa said.
Despite the Haunted Tannery not opening this year, it’s future is not set in stone.
“Absolutely(we would consider reopening), and we’ve actually had as many as three haunted houses at one time,” Hoppa said.
In the meantime, the Tannery still offers their signature Paranormal Investigations, where people can investigate the 50,000 square foot facility. During these investigations, participants may encounter the bone-chilling spirits from one of the four supernatural portals on site.
“We offer tours/investigations; we have one, three, six-hour, and overnight tours,” Hoppa said.
The Tannery is located at 235 S. Wisconsin Street, Berlin, WI 54923, and is open all hours of the day and night.
