Axel Blumensaadt is the  great-grandfather of Bill Blumensaadt, the owner of Axel & Harry’s Waterfront Grille, located downtown on Put-in-Bay’s gorgeous waterfront.

Axel was a chef working in Europe when in the late 1890’s he traveled to the New York World’s Fair on an ocean liner. On his trip home he met Josephine Kramb from Oak Harbor, Ohio who was traveling to Europe with her older sister, Edith.   Axel was smitten, but Edith intervened and succeeded in ending the budding romance. 

But their paths were destined to cross once more when ten years later, Axel returned to the states where he had been invited to work as the summer chef at the Hotel Philadelphia.  At the end of the season he was on a ship returning to Europe when he discovered Josephine was traveling on the same ship.

This time, Edith had no affect on the relationship, love blossomed and the two were soon married.  Axel made his home in the states with his new bride and worked for a short period of time in Boston and later in the Northwest Ohio area so that Josephine could be close to her family.

The romance of Axel and Josephine provided much of the inspiration for Bill as he designed the building and planned his overall vision for the restaurant. 

The other half of the duo is Harry, who emigrated from Berlin, Germany and began working in the quarries on nearby Kelleys Island and later spent most of his life working in the vineyards of South Bass Island for the E&K Wine Company. Harry’s cousin, Dr. Heinz Boker, sponsored him for his immigration to the states.

Harry is Bill’s maternal grandfather and lived on Put-in-Bay's East Point. Harry owned a deli at Put-in-Bay for a short period of time, but what Bill remembers most is his grandmother Dorothy remarking that Harry was probably down at Tony’s “hiding” from her again. It just made sense, he said, to call the lounge “Harry’s Hideaway.”  And Harry’s favorite place to hide is a casual chic, island-style swanky little harbor view bar with an outdoor side cocktail deck.

The restaurant has a European flair and the staff are mostly International, keeping with the history of Axel and Harry, both once Europeans looking for work in the United States. Bill’s wife Dana also works full time at the family business along with their son Nikolai, and their daughter, Mette.  No stranger to hard work, Bill is a fourth generation islander who landed his first job making toast at the Boathouse on Hartford Avenue when he was 11 years old.

“Axel’s and Harry’s is the type of restaurant where people come to spend some time and enjoy the experience of dining,” said Bill. “We’re not a fast food restaurant. Where is the romance in that?”