Friedrich "Fritz" Henninger was born in Weisweil, Emmendingen, Germany.  He was a trained brewer.  He emigrated to America in 1854 and settled in St. Louis where he met and married Catherine Wilhemina Goebel, a fellow German emigre from Darmstadt.

In 1861 he put his career on hold and enlisted in the Union Army, despite have the money to buy himself an alternate.  He served three months.

In around 1870 he moved to Cape Girardeau where he and his brother started the Germania Brewery.  Fritz was the brewer and his brother George operated the brewery saloon.  In around 1888 Fritz left the brewery and relocated with his son William to Washington State.  They established the Happy Valley Brewery in Fairhaven.  This business did not pan out, and the Henningers returned to Missouri before the turn of the new century.

Fritz Henninger died in St. Louis on the 11th of December, 1902 at the age of 68.