Ratskeller
Rathskeller (German: "council cellar", modern spelling: Ratskeller) is a name in German-speaking countries for a bar below street level. The term originally referred specifically to restaurants that were located in the basement of city hall (Rathaus). As a proper noun, many taverns, nightclubs and similar establishments throughout the world now use this as a name.[1]
The word had been used in English since the mid-19th century.[1]
Notable Rathskellers
The Boston, Massachusetts, Rathskeller (nicknamed The Rat) was a Kenmore Square live music venue that opened in 1974. It is notable for being one of Greater Boston's premier music venues for three decades and the starting point for the WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble.[1]
The Ram's Head Rathskeller in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was opened in 1948 by an Austrian Jew by the last name of Danziger, who came to Chapel Hill as a refugee from the Holocaust. "The Rat" was the first restaurant in the area to employ an entirely African-American staff. Long a popular spot with students and alumni, the restaurant, which extends over a catacomb-like basement with many different rooms, was filled with UNC memorabilia and history. "The Rat" was one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Chapel Hill, but was closed down in 2008 due to non-payment of taxes. Its decor and memorabilia was auctioned off leaving just the bones of the structure. The future of its unique location is unknown.
Read House in New Castle, Delaware served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, using the underground location to hide the covert activity.[2]
Das Deutsche Hause rathskeller restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana received historic landmark status. Now called Athenaeum, it has served Bavarian fare since 1894.
The Aztec Brewing Company in San Diego, California included a rathskeller as the tasting room at the brewery. Murals on the wall depicted various scenes of Aztecs painted by renowned Spanish artist Jose Moya del Piño. When the the city tore down the structure, the murals were preserved for future use.
James Lawrence Kernan operated an upscale rathskeller in the basement of the Maryland Theater (Baltimore) in Baltimore, Maryland.
Popular culture
Rathskellers occasionally show up in popular culture. In The Naked Brothers TV shows and movies, the father character plays the accordian at a fictional restaurant called The Hoboken Rathskeller. Child actress Adele De Garde starred in a 1918 silent movie called The Rathskeller and the Rose.
Campus dining
Many universities have pubs or student center dining facilities located in re-purposed basements. To market these untraditional eating locations to students, many of these are termed "rathskellers" including:
- Binghamton University
- Boston College ("The Rat")[2]
- California Institute of Technology
- College of New Jersey
- Colorado State University ("The Ramskeller" website
- Cornell College
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Hofstra University
- Kent State University
- McMaster University (Converted into a vegetarian restaurant.)
- Montclair State University
- Oberlin College
- Pennsylvania State University
- Quinnipiac University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- St. Bonaventure University
- Tulane University
- Union College
- University of Cincinnati ("The Catskeller")
- University of Dallas
- University of Göttingen
- University of Illinois at Chicago (Now converted for use by the Muslim Student Association.)
- University of Miami
- University of Tampa
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Wheeling Jesuit University
- Wright State University
See also
References
- ^ a b c [1] Your Etymological Queries Answered
- ^ "New Castle Attractions". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
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