Monday, March 24, 2025
Historic Wittnebel’s Tavern Finds New Life at Old World Wisconsin
Post-prohibition tavern and adjoining Biergarten opens May 17, ushering in a new era for the living history site’s growing beer and brewing experience
EAGLE, Wis. – Old World Wisconsin is entering a new era this spring with the public launch of a 1930s tavern experience and outdoor Biergarten on Saturday, May 17, 2025. The first historic building added to the site since the 1990s, Wittnebel’s Tavern and the new Biergarten join a working Brewhouse opened in 2022 to create an immersive history experience centered around Wisconsin’s enduring beer and brewing legacy. Wittnebel’s Tavern garnered media attention in 2021 when the building was transported 27 miles in three separate pieces to its new home at Old World Wisconsin. The tavern will get a second life when it reopens to the public after years of restoration work that returned it 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.”
Wittnebel’s Tavern was founded in 1906 in Old Ashippun, Wisconsin and was operated by two generations of the Wittnebel family until 1987. Renovated to its 1930s appearance, visitors will embark on a unique historic experience that engages all senses.
Original features, including the back bar, bar and oak-paneled cooler still stand and special touches like a rotary hanging telephone that rings, are reminiscent of the era. Recreated corner pocket tables, a distinctive checkerboard floor and yellow-toned walls characterize the period. With 1930s big band music echoing in the background and a friendly bartender dressed in period attire, guests will be transported into a 1930s rural tavern that emerged from the Prohibition era.
As part of the expanded beer and brewing experience, Old World Wisconsin will serve a new flagship brew, “Kettle Brau,” on tap at Wittnebel’s Tavern. Kettle Brau was created in partnership with Fox Town Brewery in Mequon, Wisconsin and is representative of a post-prohibition lager. With corn added to the recipe, this golden-hued brew born in the 1930s came to be associated with American style beer.
“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.”
Together, the Brewhouse, Wittnebel’s Tavern and the outdoor Biergarten offer a time traveling, grain-to-glass living history experience available exclusively at Old World Wisconsin. Opportunities to engage with Wisconsin’s rich brewing history are found around every corner and a selection of Wisconsin-made beer will be available to guests ages 21+.
For more information, visit oldworldwisconsin.org. Tickets for the May 17-18 grand opening weekend—featuring a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting both days, live polka music by Mike Schneider, a special tap dance performance, complimentary Wittnebel’s Tavern can cooler and an exclusive sticker with the purchase of beer—can be purchased online. Wisconsin Historical Society members receive free admission.
Wisconsin and Prohibition
Wisconsin’s beer and brewing industry was significantly impacted by Prohibition. When Prohibition became law on January 17, 1920, there were more than 3,000 breweries in Wisconsin. When it ended in 1933, only 73 had survived, according to Bottoms Up: A Toast to “Wisconsin’s Historic Bars & Breweries” by Jim Draeger. John Blaine, former Wisconsin governor (1921-1927) and state senator (1927-1933), was a national leader in calling for the repeal of Prohibition. After years of watching breweries go bankrupt, moonshine poisoning on the rise, and organized crime taking hold, he recognized that public sentiment was shifting to repeal. Blaine played a key role in drafting and advocating for the 21st constitutional amendment, which ended the national ban on alcohol. On Dec. 5, 1933, Congress passed the 21st amendment and Wisconsin became the second state to ratify it, ending national Prohibition.
About Old World Wisconsin
Old World Wisconsin is one of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s 12 historic sites and museums. Rated as one of the top attractions to take kids in the Milwaukee area, Old World Wisconsin is a 600-acre regional history attraction that features interactive environments and immersive stories of 19th-and early 20th-century Midwestern immigrant farm and rural life. The museum offers guests family-friendly, hands-on activities as they visit crossroads village and eight working farmsteads, explore heirloom gardens, experience beer brewing traditions, meet heritage animal breeds and try historic crafts and skills. Old World Wisconsin is located on Highway 67 just south of Eagle, Wisconsin, within daytrip distance of Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison. For more information and a list of upcoming events visit oldworldwisconsin.org or call (262) 594-6301. Wisconsin Historical Society members receive free general admission to this site during regular operating hours.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. The Wisconsin Historical Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, receives grants and private contributions benefitting the Wisconsin Historical Society and administers the membership program. For more information, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.
