USA Guide
The Great Lakes
German Village
During the mid-nineteenth century, thousands of German immigrants settled in this part of Columbus, building neat red-brick homes, the most lavish of which surround the 23-acre Schiller Park. Their descendants gradually dwindled in numbers by the 1950s and the area became increasingly run-down until it won a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The best way to explore its brick-paved streets, corner bars, old-style restaurants, Catholic churches, and grand homes is to stop in at the German Village Meeting Haus, 588 S 3rd St (Mon– Fri 9am–4pm, Sat 10am–2pm; 
614/221-8888, 
www.germanvillage.com ), where popular walking tours run by the German Village Society start with a twelve-minute video presentation. The Society also oversees the immensely popular Haus und Garten Tour on the last Sunday in June, and the Oktoberfest celebrations in late September. Book-lovers will adore the Book Loft, 631 S 3rd St (daily 10am–11pm; 614/464-1774), whose books, many of them discounted, are crammed into 32 rooms of one grand building.
Just across High Street (US-23) are the warehouses of the Brewery District, where, until Prohibition, the German immigrants brewed beer by traditional methods. Many of the original buildings still stand, but today the beer is produced by a handful of microbreweries. These brewpubs are typical of the area's more mainstream nightlife.