Karl August Selinger, the founder of Edgewater’s Old Stein Inn German restaurant, died Sunday of complications from dementia at Country Home Assisted Living in Harwood. He was 88.

Selinger was born in Lambrecht, Germany, to Otto and Margaret Selinger. He spent his early years watching his parents cook in their kitchen at home.

At 22, Selinger emigrated to America after living through World War II as a young child. Once in America, he reconnected with his future wife, Ursula, who had also recently arrived from Germany.

“They came over with $100,” said Karl and Ursula Selinger’s son, Mike Selinger. “You don’t realize until you get older, [you] appreciate making that kind of step.”

Less than six months after he became a citizen, Selinger was drafted into the Army and later served in the military police.

Selinger later worked for Premium Distributors, a beer distribution company in the Washington, D.C., area. He worked there for about 20 years, until his mid-40s, when he and his wife decided to open a restaurant.

Mike Selinger recalled tagging along with his parents to find the building that would eventually become the Old Stein Inn. When they opened in Edgewater in 1983, Karl Selinger did the cooking, his wife waited tables, and his son washed dishes.

“[My parents] really enjoyed talking to people. The restaurant is about food, but it’s also about the connection to the community and bringing a service that people want,” Mike Selinger said. “It’s a place that multiple generations have now come to. … I mean, I’ve seen people that were here in highchairs now bringing in their kids.”

The Old Stein Inn serves classic German fare: bratwurst, schnitzel, and beer, with some American offerings such as surf and turf sprinkled in. Mike Selinger said the menu is nearly identical to the original one when the restaurant opened.

The restaurant became a place where veterans who spent time in Germany came to relive their experiences, but also a place for German Americans looking for a taste of home.

In 2000, Karl Selinger retired, and his son took over the business.

“They had had some friends that moved down there [to Mexico], and they went down to visit, and they came back, and they said, ‘Oh, we bought a house.’ … They just wanted adventure,” Mike Selinger said.

The couple returned to Maryland often during the decade they spent in Mexico, always making sure to check in on the Old Stein Inn. Ursula Selinger died in 2021 at age 82. The couple was married for 63 years.

“He just wanted to make people happy and talk to people. That was his thing,” said Mike Selinger. “Wasn’t fast cars, wasn’t yachts, it wasn’t houses. He just was a down-to-earth guy that wanted to connect to people.”

Karl Selinger is survived by Mike Selinger and his wife Beth Selinger, of Edgewater; his daughter Patty Hammack and her husband Skip of Mount Airy; and several grandchildren and a great grandchild. Funeral services are being arranged. Karl Selinger will be buried at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery.

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