Still German After All These Years

By Ron Flannery

The beautiful room contains murals of old Germany--classic scenes like a rabbit hunt, friends downing enormous mugs of "bier" (and obviously enjoying good old-fashioned Gemutlichkeit), and a scene of old Heidelberg. The sound of an oompah band fills the air (with an occasional outbreak of yodeling), waitresses and the band don lederhosen, and the crowd joins in an occasional mugs-raised, everyone-standing, sing-your-hear-out German toast. A mural used for the old German sing-along (The Schnitzelbank) adorns the wall, with a piano player leading the crowd in song. The pillars separating the rooms, the wooden bar and finely-carved walls in the original room match traditional visions of a German tavern. Have I actually been warped into old Germany? I was in Detroit when I got here! No, I am at the Dakota Inn Rathskellar at 6 Mile and John R. in Detroit.

Now celebrating its 70th year in business, the Dakota Inn continues to draw full houses to its original location in a Detroit neighborhood near 6 Mile and John R. The Inn was founded in 1933 by the grandfather of current owner Karl E. Kurz as a way to bring a bit of his Bavarian homeland to Detroit and to feed his entrepreneurial spirit after coming to Detroit to follow the lure of the exciting new auto industry. Over these 70 years, the Inn has evolved into a larger place with different people but the old German spirit and ambience lives on.

I've been a big fan of the Inn for over 25 years and have many great times that will remain forever etched in my psyche. (The vision of my mother leaning against one of the pillars in the Inn and singing her heart out to the piano has a special place in my memories.) The Dakota Inn is a Detroit classic that provides a warm German ambience that is very hard to find. In this story I'll look back over the years, learn about today, and find out what the future holds.

The Auto Industry and Bavaria

In the late 1920s, Karl Kurz had the same dream shared by tens of thousands of Germans and other Europeans: bring his family to the United States to find prosperity and freedom. In particular, Kurz was attracted by the lure of then-outstanding $5/day wages at the Ford Motor Company. He successfully migrated his family to Detroit and got a job at Ford's Highland Park plant. But Karl felt he needed to do more.

While working in Highland Park for Ford, Kurz purchased a dilapidated Chinese Laundromat at John R. and Dakota, just north of 6 Mile, in the heart of Detroit's German community. At nights and on weekends, Kurz worked hard to renovate this building into a German-style Rathskeller (analogous to what we call a "corner bar"), just like the ones he remembered from his native Wiekersheim, Germany, in Bavaria. On August 1, 1933, Karl opened a tiny three-stool Rathskeller, which is the current bar area in the Inn. For three generations, the Kurz family worked to build this tiny Rathskeller into the colorful and antique-filled treasure that is the Dakota Inn.

On April 2, 1935, Kurz organized a group of regular customers into the Just Right Club, whose purpose was to bring together the Dakota's regulars into an atmosphere of Gemutlichkeit ("enjoy one's friendship in a pleasant atmosphere"). The Just Right Club is going strong today, working with the Inn to promote its charm and to build for the future (oh, and to have a bit of their own Gemutlichkeit).

Good Times, Bad Times (Mostly Good)

Over the last 70 years, the Kurz family continued to build onto the Inn, expanding it from the original tiny bar with three stools to its current 2,000 square feet. The Inn's walls are adorned with classic German beer steins, trophy animal heads from family hunting trips, hand-painted scenes from Grandpa Kurz's childhood, and other amazing murals. The furniture is also reminiscent of Bavaria, including the pillars, intricate brickwork, and lovely hand-polished dark wood furniture and wall paneling. The centerpiece is the Schnitzelbank, the basis for a classic German sing-along, flanked by a Grinnel Brothers piano made in Detroit in about the 1920s and an old school bell used to signal the beginning of the Schnitzelbank. It is easy to see the effort and attention that the Kurz family has placed into every detail of the Inn, preserving the feel of old Germany that Grandpa Kurz desired 70 years ago. In fact, Dakota Inn is listed in the State Register of Historic Sites.

Like any business, the Inn has had its ups and downs, including World War II, several recessions, the departure of Chrysler in 1990, and more. For example, the closure of the Highland Park Chrysler plant in 1990 cost the Dakota a large lunch and after-work crowd. Despite all these trying events, three generations of the Kurz family have managed to keep the Inn running. Wouldn't it have been easy to just throw in the towel and sell the place? Karl Kurz III agrees: "Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side. I've often thought about getting a fulltime job, but I love the Inn and it's been a great family tradition for many years." And he means it. Kurz's plans for the Inn are quite ambitious.

The Schnitzelbank and Other Great Songs

After admiring the architecture and murals at the Inn, your eyes are drawn to a strange mural on the back wall. It has pictures of a pig, a gun, a dragon, a wedding ring and some strange workbench-type thing at the top. German words describe each of these comical drawings. This is, of course, the Schnitzelbank.

On weekend nights the lights dim, someone will put on an old German hat (which looks to be as old as the Inn), and ring an old school bell (see pictures). The piano then kicks out a warming rhythm and the sing-along begins. The leader carries a long cane that is used to point at the current object of your attention and asks, "Is das nicht die [thing]?" (Is this not the [thing]?). You reply, "Ja, das ist die [thing]!" This process builds on itself, much like the "12 Days of Christmas," always completing with the chorus about the Schnitzelbank itself. This probably sounds strange and childish, but I challenge you to experience the Schnitzelbank led by a long-time German regular and not find yourself singing along (with whatever German accent you can muster) and feeling goose bumps.

I've heard many stories about how and what the Schitzelbank represents. For years, I told people it was a workbench. Karl corrected me: "The Schnitzelbank is a sausage board." But why sing about it? Kurz: "The Schnitzelbank was sung in old Bavaria as part of a German nursery rhyme that later became a great sing-along for the adults." And this classic mural has existed for almost as long as the Inn! When I told my father about going to the Dakota, he said, "Isn't that where you sing about the sausage board and listen to the piano?"--a memory from 1950!

The fun continues today. On any night without a band, a classic pianist like Mike Montgomery--35 year veteran player at the Inn--will tickle the ivories, prompting the crowd in sing-alongs of many classics from the 20s, 30s and 40s. Even musically UN-inclined types like me can't help but sing along.

.. And the Future

What does the future hold for the Inn? 70 years is an incredible amount of time. Will the traditions end? No way! When I interviewed Karl Kurz for this story, I could see nothing but excitement and pride in his eyes as he talked about the past and the future. Karl has plans for possibly expanding the parking lot, adding more band weekends and outdoor events, and of course creating more Gemutlichkeit. Some of the current regularly-scheduled events include:

  • September and October: Oktoberfest
  • Christmas season: Christmas sing-alongs, other holiday fare
  • February: Fasching (German Mardi Gras)
  • May: Maifest (another classic German festival)
  • September: Chili cook-off
  • Third Thursday of every month: sing-along with Kerry and Mike
  • Details for upcoming events can be found on the Dakota's Web site at www.dakota-inn.com and the email newsletter. Better yet, just come to the Inn and live the sign above the piano that says:

There are no strangers here; just friends who have not yet met

Ron Flannery is the Dakota's Web site host, long-time Dakota Inn fan, technologist, and part-time author. He can be reached at 248-887-8470x40.