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The relocated and renovated saloon that Old World Wisconsin has been preparing will soon be ready, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, which operates the historic village in Eagle.
The saloon, which will offer a 1930s tavern experience and an outdoor biergarten, was moved from Old Ashippun and is the first building to be added to the historic park since the 1990s.
Wittnebel's Tavern and the biergarten will open to the public on Saturday, May 17, joining the adjacent historic brewing experience that was announced in 2021 and opened the following year.
Wittnebel’s Tavern opened in 1906 and was run by two generations of the Wittnebel family until 1987.
The shutttered tavern was moved 27 miles in three separate pieces and reassembled next to the newly constructed brewing experience building at Old World Wisconsin.
It has since been undergoing careful restoration to its post-Prohibition appearance.
“The addition of Wittnebel’s Tavern and the expansion of Old World Wisconsin’s beer and brewing experience is about bringing history to life in new and engaging ways,” said Angela Titus, Wisconsin Historical Society’s assistant deputy director and chief program officer.
“This immersive experience invites guests to journey through Wisconsin’s rich beer and brewing heritage, across a variety of cultures and traditions, and from one era to the next. Guests can watch a traditional 1800s farmhouse ale being produced in the Brewhouse, take their sample to the outdoor space reminiscent of an early 1900s Milwaukee biergarten, and then head to Wittnebel’s Tavern for an authentic look at the tavern culture that emerged after Prohibition.”
The tavern maintains many of its original features, including it back bar, bar and oak-paneled cooler, along with original details like a rotary hanging telephone.
Other features have been recreated based on historical research, such as corner pocket tables, a checkerboard floor and yellow-toned walls.
When the saloon opens to the public, the telephone will ring and the space will be alive with 1930s big band music.
A bartender in period attire will serve its own flagship beer – a post-Prohibition style corn lager called “Kettle Brau" – brewed in partnership with Mequon's Foxtown Brewing, on tap.
“Wittnebel’s Tavern provides a window into a pivotal era in our nation’s history and is part of our efforts to create deeper, more engaging connections between visitors and the past,” said Rob Novak, Old Word Wisconsin beer & brewing historian. “The growing beer and brewing experience embodies the spirit of ‘gemütlichkeit’, which is the feeling of welcome, warmth and good cheer brought here by the German immigrants who greatly influenced Wisconsin’s brewing industry.”
The grand opening event will include ribbon cuttings on May 17 and 18 at 10 a.m., live polka music by Mike Schneider, a tap dance performance, a complimentary Wittnebel’s Tavern can cooler and a exclusive sticker with the purchase of beer.
Tickets are available online at oldworldwisconsin.org.
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.
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 be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
