Community mourns the loss of philanthropist Christian Eisenbeiss

PINE PLAINS — Christian Eisenbeiss was a private man with a generous spirit. A known philanthropist, Eisenbeiss passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, March 30, at the age of 61. He was the cofounder, board treasurer and major benefactor behind Pine Plains Memorial Hall (PPMH), soon to become a major performing arts center for the Tri-state region.

PPMH Executive Director Brian Keeler said he’s known Eisenbeiss for nearly three years. They met when Keeler first came on board with the project; Eisenbeiss was one among three investors who bought the decaying Memorial Hall with a vision for its future.

“The thing that Christian brought to our project, and the thing that sticks out foremost in my mind, was his ability to be able to get outside of himself and see things from other people’s point of view,” said Keeler. “He was very sensitive, kind and generous and had very little self-serving ego. He was more interested in what others thought and what the community needed than himself and his own opinions, and for our project, that was a godsend.”

When asked for a word that described Eisenbeiss, Keeler said “compassionate” was the most fitting.

“He was a very private person, and that’s just a reflection of the fact that he was more interested in what others were doing than promoting himself,” he said. “And he was an extraordinarily successful businessman, he had every right to stand up and poke out his chest, but I never saw him do that.”

Eisenbeiss was, in fact, credited with building Holsten-Brauerei into Germany’s largest brewery empire, according to The New York Times. Though born in New York City and educated at Phillips Academy, Amherst College and Columbia University, Eisenbeiss took over Holsten-Brauerei after his father’s death in the late 80s. In 2004, he sold Holsten and its subsidiaries to Carlsberg, the Danish brewer.

He also put his studies in mathematics to good use. He founded CRE Capital LLC, a private equity firm, and served on the Deutsche Bank Hamburg advisory board, among others.

Eisenbeiss also had a hand in Hollywood. He served as chairman of British Film Company and as executive director on more than a dozen films.

PPMH Board of Directors President and co-founder Jack Banning said he was impressed with Eisenbeiss’s accomplishments, and the way he prioritized.

“He never did any of his philanthropies to be recognized for having done them,” Banning said. “I’m sure he did great things none of us know about, frankly. As far as Memorial Hall is concerned, he was certainly one of our most generous supporters. He was on board from day one.”

Banning recounted how he called Eisenbeiss to talk about PPMH after weighing how the Pine Plains resident had saved the Stissing House from being turned into a gas station.

“He’s the one who saved the Stissing House,” said Banning. “One of the great stories about Christian, is that 15 years ago the Stissing House was going to be torn down and turned into a service station — right smack in the center of town. That would have been the end of Pine Plains. Christian stepped up, and entirely with his own money, millions, lifted up the space and gave it a new foundation. Mostly, he said, it was so there would be a nice place to have dinner on Friday nights. He laughed about that.”

As owner of the Stissing House, Eisenbeiss not only dined there, he shared it with the community. The Stissing House borders the Memorial Hall lot; Eisenbeiss shared space for parking and often offered the Stissing House as a venue for events about PPMH. It was also host to numerous community events during the years.

Banning, though clearly saddened by his friend and partner’s passing, said that the Memorial Hall project will push forward. 

“I don’t think the project is going to change in many ways that I can think of,” said Banning. “The board will change and we’ll miss him on the board, because he was active and had ideas and you could always count on him, but we’ll move forward.”

Currently, the $4.8 million project has raised $2.3 million — there’s still $2.5 million to go. Banning said his guess is that it will take another three years  to reach that goal. 

“By 2020, that’s my best guess,” he said, adding that a groundbreaking is scheduled for Saturday, May 20. 

Right now he’s hoping those interested in the arts, education, agriculture and community will learn more about PPMH, and consider visiting on May 20. Banning said, once complete, he expects a part of the project will be dedicated to Eisenbeiss.

Eisenbeiss leaves behind his long-time partner, Miyuki Takahashi, and their two children.