Article updated: 12/12/2012 11:02 AM

Aurora shop turns out sausage the old-fashioned way

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Owner Ed Schleining mans the counter at the Wurst Kitchen in Aurora. The shop has been making sausages and smoked meats in the same location for 117 years.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

A photo hanging in Wurst Kitchen shows what the store looked like in 1903 when it was known as Hauser Meat Market.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

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The Wurst Kitchen, at 638 2nd Ave. and Union Street, is the oldest retail shop in Aurora.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

Aurora native Ed Schleining bought Wurst Kitchen 18 years ago and has changed little in the shop, which originally opened as Arnold Meat Market in 1895.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

Wurst Kitchen employees Clemens Hog and Matt Tigges make hot Italian sausage, one of more than 80 kinds of sausage the shop makes.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

Irmy Gohs, left, takes some venison from customer Christine Cates of DeKalb to make into meat sticks. The store is a favored place for hunters to have their meat processed.

Bev Horne | Staff Photographer

About this Article

Before airplanes, TV or even the Spanish-American War, Wurst Kitchen was selling its locally famous handmade sausages and smoked meats in Aurora. The store still does a brisk business where it opened in 1895, especially during the holiday season. Former Aurora residents visiting family stock up on their favorites among the more than 80 kinds of sausage the shop makes. Even European visitors have been known to pack bratwurst to take home.