Von Trier bar auctioning off Colnik chandelier, other items
There, in the surplus of 40-year-old bar Von Trier, among the glass mug etched with Elvis' likeness, neon beer signs and taxidermy, is a certifiable treasure: a chandelier by the masterful Milwaukee wrought-iron artist Cyril Colnik.
The chandelier is one of the items being auctioned off from Von Trier, the freshly remodeled German bar on the east side.
The online auction, being conducted by Gerlach Cos. Inc., is underway at proxibid.com/gerlach. The items can be viewed Monday at Von Trier, at N. Farwell and E. North avenues.
Buyers have until 10 a.m. March 27 to make their bids.
The auction has about 650 lots. They include single items such as an old wooden phone booth and various steins emblazoned with brewing companies' names as well as lots of multiple items, such as boxes holding tap handles.
But the item likely to draw the most attention is the Colnik wrought-iron and antler chandelier now hanging in the Von Trier main room. Previously, it was in the tavern's back room, and before that, it hung in the Pabst Mansion.
The mansion at 2000 W. Wisconsin Ave., built in 1890-'92, was the lavish home of the Pabst Brewing family. The building became the offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee after Capt. Frederick Pabst's death, and after a remodeling in 1960, the Colnik chandelier was stored in a garage, according to Pabst Mansion Executive Director John Eastberg.
The chandelier was sold in the 1970s and ended up at Von Trier, which opened in 1978. The Pabst Mansion was sold in 1975 and became a museum in 1978 after escaping demolition.
Colnik was an Austrian-born craftsman who worked in Milwaukee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Examples of his work can be seen in the collection of the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and elsewhere, including the railings in the atrium of City Hall.
Von Trier owner John Sidoff said he had offered to sell the chandelier to the museum in January. Eastberg said the mansion at that time was already fundraising for two interior restoration projects; the chandelier would have cost more than $100,000.
The chandelier must draw a bid of at least $5,000 to be sold in the auction. It has a "buy it now" price of $135,000.
Sidoff said he held out hope that someone would buy the chandelier to donate to the museum.
The museum "is always interested in obtaining the original artifacts of the Pabst Mansion when possible so that we can ensure they are properly cared for and maintained as part of the Pabst family home," Eastberg said in an email.
An identical replica of the chandelier already hangs in the mansion; the museum had it created in 2005 for $28,000, when the then-owners of Von Trier declined to sell it. The mansion in the past has offered to swap the replica for the original, Eastberg said.
"John Sidoff has done a great job to professionally restore the Cyril Colnik chandelier," Eastberg said.
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Sidoff, who bought the bar with his wife, Cindy, in 2009, is auctioning off the chandelier and the surplus items to recoup some of the recent costs to renovate the space, which he said was $100,000.
Von Trier was closed in late January and early February for a sprucing up, reopening Feb. 9. Sidoff planned last year to close Von Trier and turn it into a midcentury cocktail lounge. He reconsidered after an outcry from the public, instead updating the bar and reintroducing a food menu.
