The Germania Building is an eight-story historic Beaux-Arts/

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

building at 135 W. Wells St. in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It was built in 1896 for

George Brumder George Brumder (May 24, 1839 – May 9, 1910) was a German-American newspaper publisher and businessman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in Breuschwickersheim, Bas-Rhin, France, Brumder emigrated to the United States, settling in Milwaukee, where he ...

to house the headquarters of his burgeoning

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

empire. In 1983 it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Description

The 8-story, building was designed by German-trained architects Schnetzky & Liebert and was, at the time of its construction, the largest

office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

in the city of Milwaukee. In addition to its characteristic copper ''

pickelhaube The (; , ; from , and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked leather or metal helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German soldiers of all ranks, as well as firefighters and police. Although it ...

'' domes, the building was graced by a -tall, three-ton bronze statue of

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

on a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

over the door. In 1918, the building's name was changed to the ''Brumder Building'' in response to

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and the statue was removed discreetly in the night. Efforts to trace the fate of the statue, which was stored for a while by sculptor

Cyril Colnik Cyril Colnik (20 September 1871 – 25 October 1958) was a metalsmith originally from Austria sometimes called "The Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany of wrought iron".. He emigrated to the United States to attend the 1893 World's Columbian Exposit ...

, have proven futile, with one theory claiming that it was melted down for scrap during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and another speculating that it may have gone to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, and possibly still be there.Joslyn, Jay. "Where is the bronze giantess, Germania?" ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', April 17, 1981; part 3, p. 1. Seventeen years after Brumder's death in 1910, the printing presses were removed from the basement levels of the building, giving the city its first underground parking garage. The name was changed back to the Germania Building after a significant renovation in 1981. It was placed on the

in July 1983. In 1968 the Brumder Building was the scene of a significant protest against the

war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Nine Milwaukee draft boards maintained their offices on the second floor. On the evening of September 24 fourteen activists entered and removed about 10,000 files. Those files were then carried outside across Wells Street, to the area now known as Postman Square, and burned. In early 2007, the building was sold to a Milwaukee-based investor group led by Santino "Sonny" Bando, for slightly more than $4 million (approx. $44/sq. ft.) from a suburban-Chicago-based investment trust. The building had suffered a decline in tenants and a foreclosure sale in 1990 but was, at the time of the sale, 95% occupied, according to Bando. One of the reasons Bando cited for buying the building was the fact that he and his investors also own another of downtown Milwaukee's historic office buildings, the Iron Block Building (205 E. Wisconsin Ave.), which they bought in 2004. Bando said he likes those types of buildings "because you can't really build them anymore."Daykin, Tom. "Germania Building is sold for $4 million: Investors also own Iron Block Building" ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', January 9, 2007, p. D3

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Neoclassical architecture in Wisconsin Beaux-Arts architecture in Wisconsin Commercial buildings completed in 1896 Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Newspaper headquarters in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 1896 establishments in Wisconsin

Description

See also

References