Ratzsch's Restaurant began in 1904 when Chef Otto Hermann opened "Hermann's Cafe" in downtown Milwaukee. A few years later his stepdaughter, Helen, came from Germany to live and work in the cafe. Prior to WWI, Karl August Ratzsch Sr. was on tour in the United States and due to the outbreak of war, stayed, settled in Milwaukee and began working with Helen. After a ten-year courtship, Helen and Karl were married and they purchased the cafe, relocated it to the present location and changed the name to "Karl Ratzsch's".