CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The sun is just coming up as Brigitte Kazenmayer comes out of the kitchen of the bakery and restaurant she owns with her family with a smile on her face after spending the overnight hours baking. She's tired, but headstrong. For the last week, she has been working all night every night, and most of the day.
Her husband, Jürgen, the "master bread maker," suffered a health emergency recently and had to be hospitalized. While taking care of him, Brigitte also had to make sure the business kept running smoothly. And not just to pay the bills, but so the family can stay in the country that has become their home for the last twelve years-- the United States.
"This is an E2 visa, and we have to invest, and we have to have a business, and if the business fails, for example, we have to go back to Germany. We have nothing left in Germany," Brigitte said. "That's why we are working so hard to keep it going."
Brigitte and Jürgen came to Corpus Christi from Germany twelve years ago. They toured several towns in Texas to settle in, but when Brigitte visited Corpus Christi... she knew it was the place she wanted to call home.
"When we landed here for the first time ever and we were on the highway above the city, I looked at Jürgen and said 'this is our city. This is what I love.'"
The first location of their business, JB's German Bakery and Restaurant, was on the Island. They have now settled into the corner of Staples and Everhart, and their loyal customers have followed.
"The poppyseed pastry is my favorite," Zach Frandsen said after placing his order. "My wife and I used to come here a lot whenever we were in college together, whenever we would go to the beach we would make a run by the Island location when it was there and we have always really loved it, their food has always been really good, and the owners and staff make you feel like home here."
The bakery is staffed by family members-- Brigitte and Jurgen's daughter and son-in-law are vital members of the team that brings Corpus Christi authentic Spätzle and Schnitzel, along with whole loaves of German bread, which are made from scratch every morning, usually by Jürgen.
JB's German Bakery and Restaurant credits community for keeping doors open after owner's health scare
But on a Tuesday at the end of March, Jürgen came to Brigitte at their home, bloodied. He had fallen and hit his head after the left side of his body went numb. He was rushed to the hospital where he stayed for several days getting treated for a stroke.
"He got admitted, even though he didn't want to but of course he had to," Brigitte said. "I didn't know what to do, so I went here and my son-in-law, he is working with us, he's the manager, he said 'we don't close.' And I said 'okay, how are we going to do this?' He said 'we do what we can do, we try to do as much as possible. Whatever you can do, you do, whatever you cannot, you don't.'"
The family was determined to keep the doors open to their business, but wanted the community to know that some of their most popular items- their whole loaves of bread- may not be quite the same until Jürgen was healed.
"I came here at 1 a.m., together with Melanie, and we didn't know what to do, we had no idea. So, I texted Jürgen and I said 'what are we doing with this? What is this?' and he said 'I will be there to do it later,' but I said, 'I don't think he is doing this later.'"
Still, Brigitte and Melanie did their best to make the breads so many in the community love.
"Normally this shelf is full, but as you can see it is a little bare right now," Brigitte said while gesturing to where the breads are displayed every day. "I've never baked. You have to make a lot and you have to make it fast. My husband, believe it or not, he knows everything in his mind, like a computer. I wrote everything down, every single step, and it's good but you have to follow every single step."
Knowing they weren't the best bread and pastry chefs, they took to social media to let their customers know about the situation and were shocked by the support they received from the community. More than 2,000 people shared the Facebook post of Brigitte asking for the community's support for the restaurant.
"I was almost in tears. This morning I looked at the post from where we said 'we need to pay some big bills,' and I was like 'what?!' It is amazing. I am so thankful and that shows me that Corpus Christi really sticks together," Brigitte said.
Jürgen is now home and recovering, and planning on slowing down a little bit to take care of his health.
"He really focuses on himself right now," Brigitte said. "It will never be the same, which is good, because he got up and worked from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and then came back at 2 p.m. and worked for two more hours... this is not life. I don't want this anymore and I don't want this to happen again."
While working extra to take care of the restaurant and her husband, Brigitte said the only reason they were able to stay open was because of the hard work of the rest of the family and staff members.
"I have Kristoff, he is amazing, He stepped up to the plate and my daughter, his wife, I could not have done this without them and without Melanie in the back, the pastry chef, it wouldn't have been possible," Brigitte said.
And the community overwhelmingly showed up for the family.
"It was so busy, it was more than a Saturday and more than a Sunday, which are the best days," Brigitte said. "We were completely overwhelmed the last days. Corpus has the best community ever," a post by the restaurant said.
After hearing of their struggles, a customer even stepped up to provide Jürgen physical therapy at their home, free of charge.
"I was like, 'wow,' I was stunned," Brigitte said.
The restaurant and bakery is open Tuesday-Sunday from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. at 4141 S.Staples St, Suite 100. You can stop by to make a donation to Jurgen's recovery fund and pick up some authentic German food.
