2. Old World Wisconsin Galleries

German Area of OWW

Old World Wisconsin, the Midwest's largest outdoor living history museum, showcases the life of immigrants to the State of Wisconsin in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society and occupies nearly 600 acres in the rolling hills of the Kettle Moraine area of Southeast Wisconsin near the small village of Eagle. It includes nine ethnic farms plus a village with a blacksmith, cobbler, general store, church, inn, shoe shop, and several residences. Interpreters dress in period clothing and go about their daily chores of farming, cooking, laundry, shoe making, blacksmithing, etc. The 40 some odd historic builldings on the site were moved to Old World from various locations in the early 1970s. The museum was opened to the public as the bicentennial project of the State of Wisconsin in 1976.
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Interesting geometric shapes in the dry sink area of the Schottler summer kitchen.
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Interesting geometric shapes in the dry sink area of the Schottler summer kitchen.

ArtsyAutumn on the FarmsGermanSchottlerSpecial EventsSummer Kitchen

  • An interpreter in the Koepsell farmhouse kitchen prepares dinner on a cast iron wood cookstove.
  • Horse owners from the Jefferson County Draft Horse Association at the annual Autumn on the Farms event at Old World discuss plans for working the fields while waiting for dinner to be served at the Koepsell farm.
  • Old World Wisconsin is located on 600 acres of rolling hills in the Kettle Moraine area of southeast Wisconsin. Although 600 acress may not sound like a lot, there are several miles of winding roads and trails that are sometimes confusing to visitors, but the tram drivers, interpreters and good signage (such as that seen here) are all very helpful in helping them find their way around the site.
  • An interpreter walks past the Grube barn on the Schulz farm on a beautiful spring day.
  • Back porch of the Koepsell farmhouse. Note the half timbered construction known as "fachwerk" that was common in Pomerania at the time the Koepsell farmhouse was built (1858).
  • An interpreter tends a fire in the oven in the "black kitchen" of the 1860 Schulz farmhouse. The black kitchen was basically a large chimney in the center of the house. Meat was smoked by hanging it on racks in the chimney. Bread was baked by first building a fire in the oven. After the bricks lining the inside of the oven were sufficiently hot, the coals were removed by dragging them into the pit below the pot seen here. Many loaves of bread were then placed in the hot oven to bake. Black kitchens fell out of use after a number of years because of the fire hazard they presented --- especially to women wearing long skirts.
  • Interpreters and volunteers at the annual Autumn on the Farms event enjoy a classic American farm dinner in the backyard of the Koepsell farmhouse. Draft horses used for the fall planting are hitched up behind the farmers waiting to get back to work in the fields.
  • Interesting geometric shapes in the dry sink area of the Schottler summer kitchen.
  • The whole family is out for a Sunday buggy ride through the German Schottler farm.
  • Hay wagon in the Grube barn at the Schulz farm. Note the sheaves of straw hanging in the background. Straw was used for the thatched roof on this barn.
  • Overview of the 1875 Schottler farm. Those are piglets frolicing around the horses in the foreground.
  • United Brethern church from the mixed race community of Pleasant Ridge. Note the cemetery in the background. This church is the only historic building at Old World that is a replica and not the original structure. The original structure was damaged by a storm and torn down in 1921.
  • An interpreter weaves baskets on the front porch of the 1875 Schottler farmhouse.
  • Crucifix outside the 1900 Kruza house (Polish).
  • 1880 Koepsell farmhouse dining room,
  • 1880 Koepsell farmhouse bedroom.
  • An interpreter spins flax in the Schulz farmhouse.
  • An interpreter weaves with the large loom in the 1860 Schulz farmhouse.
  • An interpreter knits in the one-room 1900 Kruza farmhouse while waiting for vistors.
  • An interpreter sits on the front porch of the Schulz farmhouse. Note the twig fence that protects the garden area. Fences kept wild animals from damaging the plants, and twigs were plentiful in the New World.
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