Scheffel Hall at 190 Third Avenue in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1894-1895, and designed by Henry Adams Weber and Hubert Drosser, at a time when the area south of it was known as Kleindeutschland ("Little Germany") due to the large number of German immigrants who lived nearby. The building, which served as a beer hall and restaurant, was modeled after an early-17th century building in Heidelberg Castle, the "Friedrichsbau", and was named after Joseph Viktor von Scheffel, a German poet and novelist. It later became known as Allaire's,[1] a name still inscribed on the building. The building's style has been described as "German-American eclectic Renaissance Revival".[2]
Later, in the late 1920's, the building was used by the German-American Athletic Club. By 1939 it became the German-Aerican Rathskeller,[1] and then Joe King's Rathskeller. O. Henry referred to the Rathskeller as Rheinschlossen ("Rhine Castles") and wrote some of his stories there.[1] Beginning in the 1970s, it was the home of Fat Tuesday's, a well-known jazz club, and Tuesday's restaurant, which lasted until the early 21st century. It is currently a movement studio.
Scheffel Hall was designated a New York City landmark in 1997.[3]