herr2ck: Columbus - German Village

February 2026.

German Village is probably Columbus’s trendiest, most gentrified, and best-preserved neighborhood. The entire area is a strictly regulated historic district, and it houses many upscale restaurants and things to do that are named in every single “What to do in Columbus” TikTok ever made. Its brick streets and quaint Italianate houses give it a very medieval quality.

German Village is located on the near south side of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by the I-71 trench and downtown to the north, Nursery Lane and Merion Village to the south, Schumacher Place to the east, and Pearl Street and the Brewery District to the west. This post specifically focuses on 3rd Street from Livingston Avenue to Columbus Street.

History

I covered German Village’s history in my earlier post about it and will omit it here to save space, since I have a lot of ground to cover.

Photos

Katzinger’s Delicatessen (475 South 3rd Street)

Katzinger’s is one of German Village’s best-known restaurants, and it is on the northern edge of the district at 3rd Street’s intersection with Livingston Avenue. The buildings consist of a two-story Italianate commercial building built in 1827 and a smaller one-story addition to the south that was built about a century later. Katzinger’s was founded by Steve and Diane Warren, who opened it in 1984 as a New York-style deli restaurant. It has operated here ever since, though it has expanded over the years.

I visited with my girlfriend before taking pictures of the building for this post, and I did enjoy my sandwich, though it was on the pricey side. If you’re wondering, I got #32 - Andy’s Got Another Job, with no tomato.

Loving the bread on display here--very quaint.

North facade:

481-487 South 3rd Street

These are two separate buildings despite being attached to one another. 481 S 3rd is a one-story Italianate, built in 1856, with clapboard shutters. Its neighbor is a Queen Anne design and dates to 1880-1900.

487 S 3rd has a prominent bay window with gable above, massive brick corbels, and dark stone lintels on the first floor. The building has an overall symmetrical appearance, rather unusual for Queen Anne buildings.

Ammonite-like carving at the corners:

Large corbel supporting the bay window:

Schwartz Castle (492 South 3rd Street)

This house was built circa 1880 for Frederich Schwartz, a German druggist who ran an apothecary at Main Street and 4th Street. It is a very unusual design for the neighborhood due to its three-story height and large turret atop the roof. The interior was built with surfaces that were easy to clean, such as tile and iron. Schwartz lived in the house until his death in 1914.

There are a lot of rumors about Schwartz’s life and the house’s possible haunting. The Columbus Neighborhoods episode on German Village claimed he used the turret to watch for his bride from Germany (who never came), and that he became very eccentric later in life, doing odd things such as drinking only rainwater, jogging barefoot in the mornings, and wearing only wool clothing. Wikipedia, citing a book on German Village, alternatively writes that Schwartz had a mental health episode after his fiancee ended their engagement, and it was rumored that he died alone inside the house. The castle is supposedly haunted by Schwartz today.

After Schwartz died, it was used as the Columbus Maternity Hospital for a while, then a rooming house, and it was slated for demolition in the 1960s. It was restored by a couple in 1973, gutting the interior and adding a fourth floor. It remains a private home today, though it can be rented on AirBNB.

The tall turret, which extends a floor upward from the already-towering house:

A closer look at the cornice and arched windows of the turret:

Loving these stone hood molds, which have a unique carved pattern on them.

The entrance has the original double doors, though they have likely been painted:

495-499 South 3rd Street

This brick Commercial style building is an unusually modern one for the area. It was built in 1924, meaning some of the oldest buildings in German Village were already a century old by the time it was built. Its simpler appearance with rectangular windows is subtly different from the more elaborate Italianate buildings in the neighborhood.

3rd Street is not exclusively a commercial area, as in German Village, there is no one defined “strip” of activity like High Street. It is true that a good amount of its landmarks are centered on the street, however. Here is a good look at its more residential character:

502 South 3rd Street

This building tries to be contextual to the neighborhood but also does not hide its age. It was built in 1978 and used by realtors today.

523 & 529 South 3rd Street

These are two Italianate-ish, Queen Anne-ish homes that were probably built around the turn of the 20th century. Their form, skinny plan, and height are common features of many German Village houses.

533 South 3rd Street

This is a more updated Italianate house, as the stone lintels and sills have been cleaned/painted and the windows have been replaced. The black coloration of many components is very trendy nowadays.

Pistacia Vera (541 South 3rd Street)

On the more trendy and modernized side of the restaurants here is Pistacia Vera, an upscale cafe. I think the building has always been a commercial one due to its corner location. I’m a little surprised that the German Village Commission approved the gray paint and mullion-less windows. I also love the Commercial style building next door with the “REINER’S” sign.

Frederick & Pauline Heer House (551 South 3rd Street)

According to one source of mine, this Italianate house is actually a Yost & Packard design, far from their typical Victorian revivals. It was designed for Frederick Heer and his wife Pauline in 1898. Frederick’s parents came from Germany, and he owned a printing company on 4th Street. The house now is used by a law firm.

Original entrance doors:

Heer’s printing company, which was located north of German Village and has since been demolished. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

571 South 3rd Street

A taller Italianate standing three stories, 571 S 3rd is a solid example of a commercial Italianate building. It has a stone storefront facing 3rd Street with large picture windows, a broad cornice, and a simpler appearance on the secondary Beck Street side. The ornamental details, namely the windows’ hood molds and the cornice, are in excellent condition.

576 South 3rd Street

This house was built circa 1883 and owned by A. A. Hill, who sold it to cigar manufacturer Frank Hemmersbech in 1885 at a sheriff’s auction. In 1896, Sadie Dixon, the wife of Dr. Myrwood Dixon, purchased the house. The addition on the front of the house dates to this time, as Dr. Dixon used it as his office to see patients. He and his wife lived and practiced in the home for the following 57 years. It has been restored and earned a 2020 preservation award.

Detail of the elaborate entrance portal:

Note the fossils in the limestone foundation here, in this quick photo I snapped of the historic markers:

584 South 3rd Street

This Craftsman was built in 1918, though it looks like a New Traditional house from suburbia plopped in the middle of German Village.

Cento (595 South 3rd Street)

A Commercial style building with an L-shaped plan, the void in between has become an outdoor seating area. It is currently used by Cento, a very fancy Italian restaurant.

Loving the brickwork string course and cornice.

601 South 3rd Street

I like this quaint, low-slung cottage. It has its original slate tile roof, and the vaulted windows are smaller with brick hood molds (versus the typical stone).

604 South 3rd Street

Now here’s a very unusual house--a Craftsman in an area dominated by tall Italianates. Its heavy modern alterations aren’t doing it any favors, either. However, the slate tile roof (uncommon on Craftsmans) and twin chimneys might indicate that an Italianate house was modified with Craftsman features.

617-619 South 3rd Street

A symmetrical Italianate duplex, this is another classic German Village house.

618-620 South 3rd Street

This American Foursquare house isn’t that special, as it is a common design across Columbus, but it is newer than the houses surrounding it. It likely dates to circa 1900-1920, unlike the 19th-century houses surrounding it.

624 & 628 South 3rd Street

These two houses have a common one-story form, the one on the right with a shotgun house layout and the left having an off-street entrance.

Stauf’s (627 South 3rd Street)

Vintage photo (right) of 627 S 3rd as The Nutcracker. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

I did a lot of digging trying to figure out the history of this building, as I’m not quite sure when it was constructed. It has two Romanesque Revival biforas and a larger trifora in the center, though the cornice and ornamentation seem rather New Classical in style. Additionally, the circular window in the trifora reads “Since 1885.” The auditor’s website gives two dates of 1937 and 1940.

The only other thing I could find online was 1980s-vintage photos of the building as the Railroad Savings & Loan Company from 1976-1988 and The Nutcracker (ostensibly a gift shop) afterwards. Stauf’s opened in the building in 2014, though it was a coffee shop known as Cup O Joe beforehand.

I’ve covered Stauf’s flagship location in Dennison Place, which is located inside a historic church building. This is one of their branch locations.

One of the smaller biforas:

I couldn’t focus on the circular window with all the junk in front of it, so this out-of-focus view is all I have:

The Book Loft (631 South 3rd Street)

Photo of the building before it became the Book Loft. (Book Loft website)

The Book Loft is another very well-known German Village destination. The building itself was built by Amelia Maurer in 1877 as a combined business and residence, and it was known as Maurer’s Saloon and sold Schlee beer. The saloon closed during Prohibition, and it has held several other businesses since, most notably Mrs. Keller’s Doll Hospital. Mrs. Keller was a descendant of Nicholas Schlee, and her business was popular with children at St. Mary’s School and 3rd Street School nearby.

The Book Loft opened in 1977 with just three rooms, though eight expansions over the years have crowded 32 rooms of books into the building. The building is pretty and well-maintained, and the landscaping is very fun, but the interior is rather cramped and can be difficult to navigate with the many people that often visit. I’ve been there a few times to window shop, but I don’t think I ever bought anything.

The building itself is a commercial Italianate with a hipped roof and storefront. It is in good condition and has many original features intact.

The east facade:

Balcony woodwork and windows:

Detail of the neon sign on the first floor:

It’s similar to the hanging sign above the entrance:

Another view of the south facade, which appears to have an addition (the slightly shorter portion):

647 South 3rd Street

This is another vernacular house on 3rd Street, but its entrance and longer side face away from the street.

650 South 3rd Street

A three-story Commercial style building with an unusual plan due to the curve of Sycamore Street, 650 S 3rd is currently used as a small gift shop with apartments above.

653-659 South 3rd Street

These two conjoined homes, with their different gable profiles right next to each other, are pretty interesting to me.

689 South 3rd Street

A circa 1870 house that has been painted and had its windows replaced, it is Italianate in style but has a steeply pitched gable at the center that seems almost Gothic Revival.

Lamprecht’s Hall/Max & Erma’s (739 South 3rd Street)

This 1889 Italianate commercial building was built by Tobias Lamprecht. The first floor was used as a saloon, the second floor was the Lamprecht family’s living quarters, and the third was a public hall used for banquets and festivals. Its function is indicated by the taller ceilings on the third floor. Tobias’s niece Annie operated a saloon called Annie Kaiser’s through the 1950s.

In 1958, the building was purchased by two familiar names--Max and Erma Visocnik, who founded the first Max & Erma’s restaurant inside. In 1972, the franchise was founded, which operated 110 restaurants at their peak in the 2000s. I actually ate at one near my grandparents’ house in Illinois as a kid, and I distinctly remember the clawfoot tub that the ice cream bar was located in. Many of the locations closed over the following 20 years, leaving only eight operating today. Additionally, this original location closed in 2017.

The building has modern black vinyl windows and a shed-roofed glass dining room. Its cornice and cast-iron balcony are intact, however.

The east facade has taller windows on the third floor, and the stone of the hood molds continues across the entire facade.

The storefronts:

The iron framing is original, but I’m unsure if the windows and wood surrounds are.

The art-glass transoms have a floral pattern:

Cast-iron balcony:

I’m surprised it’s intact, given that other alterations have taken place to the building. I love these Victorian-era fire escapes and their ornamentation through their structure.

The nearby window and its hood mold:

Third floor and cornice:

Central pediment of the cornice:

It seems to be metal, judging by the chipping paint.

Edge and corner:

Hausfrau Haven (763-769 South 3rd Street)

Hausfrau Haven is a well-known wine and gift shop. (Hausfrau means “housewife” in German.) The Italianate building dates to circa 1890 and had various uses over its lifetime, such as a hardware and grocery store. Hausfrau Haven itself was established inside in 1977 by business and romantic partners Fred Holdridge and Howard Burns. At first, it was a smaller market, and the owners stocked any items that at least two people requested. Fred eventually became involved with the German Village Society, leading Howard and his mother to operate the store afterwards. Howard died in 2001, and Fred sold the store but was allowed to live in the apartments above until his death in 2010. The current owners operate the shop similarly to Fred and Howard.

Detail of the roughly hewn stone storefront: