Otto Kleeman

Who is Otto Kleeman?

Otto Karl Kleeman was an American architect in Portland, Oregon. His work included the design for Portland's Hotel Arminius and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory.

Kleeman was born in Ostrowo, Germany, March 13, 1855. He attended a technical school at Holzminden and college in Ostrowo, completing his schooling at sixteen. He moved to the U.S. in September 1871, making his way to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was "unacquainted with the language and customs of the American people and at first it was difficult to get steady work, but later was employed by several architects and spent nine years in California."

He moved to Portland in September 1880 and became a draftsman at Clark & Upton for several months before joining Justus Krumbein, where he worked for another several months. He worked with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company for thirteen months on "their shops at Albina, and later he embarked in business on his own account" in 1882. He designed the original monastery in Mt. Angel, Oregon, built many convents, and "has done much important work for the different Catholic organizations, although not Catholic himself.

Kleemann was grand adjutant of the Indian War Veterans of the North Pacific Coast, a regent of Multnomah Council No. 1481 Royal Arcanum, president of the Consolidation of German Speaking Societies of Oregon, a life member of the German Aid Society, and a member of the Masonic fraternity.