Another auction of items from the former Karl Ratzsch's restaurant is underway and here are some of the most interesting pieces that you could take home if you're the high bidder.
Gerlach Companies is hosting an online auction of what remains from the now long-vacant Ratzsch's space through Oct. 7. There will be three in-person inspection events from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, and Saturdays, Sept. 27 and Oct. 4.
Opened by Otto Herrmann on Water Street in 1904, the restaurant was renamed in 1929 when it was purchased by Herrmann's stepdaughter Ella Helene, and her husband, Karl Ratzsch, and moved to the Colby Abbot Building at 320 E. Mason St.
The beloved German restaurant – initially called Old Heidelberg Cafe before taking the more familiar Ratzsch's name in the 1930s – was sold after three generations to employees Judy Hazard, John Poulos and Tom Andera in 2004.
In 2016, the three sold to Chef Thomas Hauck, who closed it the following year. Afterward, Hauck's creditors held an auction of "movable" items from the restaurant, including the many beer steins that decorated the place. Gerlach also ran that auction.
We took a peek inside the space the following year. You can see the story and photos from that visit here.
There are more than 400 items in this current auction, including everything from mural paintings (and sections of some murals) to figurines to restaurant furniture to signage to stained glass to a variety of unique chandeliers and more.
There is also Cyril Colnik-designed ironwork, solid wooden columns that used to decorate the exterior of the restaurant, stacks and stacks of newspaper clippings, magazines and photos from across the history of the restaurant.
And lots – I mean lots – of goat antlers.
It's clear walking past these items that Chuck Kahn – who owns the Colby Abbot Building with his wife Patti Keating-Kahn – finds it all little bittersweet.
His family knew the Ratzsch family the entire time the restaurant was located there.
"My family's owned this building since 1926," Kahn says, "and my dad helped his dad run the place. But then eventually I took over when my dad was trying to retire.
"So in our family, first my grandfather, my father and I, and then Patti and I had worked with all of them throughout these years."
But the restaurant's now been gone nearly a decade, the space sitting vacant.
"Clearing it out's going to give us a big boost in terms of finding the next awesome tenant who wants a great place," says Kahn.
You can help give some of this stuff its next home. Here are five of the coolest lots...
Otto Herrmann restaurant photo
Honestly, if I were to bid on anything it would be this original sepia photo of where it all began: Otto Herrmann's restaurant on Water Street. The glass in the frame is cracked, but who cares?
Gnome light fixtures
There are a couple of these "Little Henzel Men" light fixtures with gnomes straddling iridescent shades and a pair of these would look great flanking a fireplace in a Milwaukee bungalow.
Barrel end sign
For decades this unique sign – which appears to be fabricated from an actual barrel, be it wine or beer – hung just above the door leading into Karl Ratzsch's restaurant and it's a real piece of Milwaukee history. Warning, it weighs a ton. It's one of a just a few items with a reserve.
Large artwork depicting the dining room
While everyone else is looking at the large mural up near the mezzanine of the restaurant that is being auctioned in sections, I'm more enamored of what looks like an ink on paper (or canvas) rendering of a lively scene inside the Karl Ratzsch's dining room. There is a signature, it seems, at the bottom of this large work, but it's just initials, so it'll take some research to try and identify the artist.
Iconic dining room cuckoo clock
The carved wood cuckoo clock that was a much-beloved item in the restaurant dining room is a dream item for a hunter, a lover of German culture, a Ratzsch's fan or anyone who appreciates craftsmanship. This is perhaps the signature item in the auction. As such, you'll be unsurprised to hear that it, too, has a reserve.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.