in depth

In Depth During the 19th century immigrants from more than 30 European countries flocked to Milwaukee, bringing with them their skills, arts and cuisines. Germans were the largest group; as the decades passed their gemütlichkeit (hospitality) assumed Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, Irish and other national overtones.

Milwaukee's watery surroundings, while a boon to its eventual development as a river port, posed a few problems during its early years. A fierce rivalry developed over the question of payment for the Milwaukee River bridges that connected the villages of Juneautown and Kilbourntown. The Great Bridge War was settled by the legislature in 1845, but not before both factions angrily had torn down every bridge and the residents of Juneautown had trained a loaded cannon on Kilbourntown.

The new city of Milwaukee witnessed the arrival of the Forty-Eighters, refugees from unsuccessful revolutionary movements against German monarchies in 1848. This intellectual minority launched the city into new cultural and political directions, endowing the city with theaters, music societies, athletic clubs and Freethinker groups. They also established a reform tradition that later gave rise to Milwaukee's distinctive brand of socialism.

During the last half of the 19th century, the reference to Milwaukee as the German Athens was hardly an exaggeration. Only the Polish and Irish populations came close in number. English was almost never heard in some neighborhoods, especially on the northwest side. By the late 1870s Milwaukee had six daily newspapers published in German.

Public schools zealously enforced their requirement that German be taught from kindergarten on. Ever-popular were family picnics at such open-air beer gardens as the Schlitz Palm Garden. By the end of the century, however, German cultural allegiances had begun to fade. The decision of the Stadt Theater, pride of Milwaukee's German culture, to alternate plays in German and English was an indisputable sign of changing times.

In reality Milwaukee's northern European heritage never disappeared. Its influence survived, despite such setbacks as World War I's repressive effect on the German community and Prohibition's nearly fatal blow to the city's brewing industry. The period following World War II brought massive development.

Today, Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin, and while formerly known as the “machine shop of America,” the service and technology sectors have experienced the most rapid growth in recent years. Some companies that call Milwaukee home include Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual and Rockwell Automation.

But what really has made Milwaukee famous is beer. Though other industries have dethroned the king since 1889, the brewing industry remains synonymous with the city. Milwaukee’s beer heritage can be explored at Pabst Mansion, the Miller Brewery Tour & Visitor Center and smaller microbreweries in the city. Lakefront Brewery, 1872 N. Commerce St., and Sprecher Brewing Co., 701 W. Glendale Ave., offer tours and tastings; phone (414) 372-8800 and (414) 964-2739, respectively. While City Hall and the ornate Pabst Theater, built in the 1890s in the Flemish Renaissance style, reflect Milwaukee’s European heritage, the city’s newest icon is the Milwaukee Art Museum expansion with its unusual wings that open and close over a sunlit atrium on Lake Michigan's shore.

The 90-acre lakefront park area also boasts the science and technology museum Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin , and the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park, home to numerous ethnic festivals. In the heart of the city, visitors can stroll along the three-mile-long RiverWalk to restaurants and microbrew pubs. Stop at Wells Street along the river for a look at the life-sized statue of Fonzie – one of television's favorite characters from the show “Happy Days.”