completely refinished late 19th century and largely intact interior commercial building elevator floor indicator purportedly salvaged in the early 1980's from extant germania building designed by the architectural firm of schnetzky & liebert. the circular-shaped elevator indicator contains a concentric ring surrounding four matching elongated bellflowers eminating from a centrally located medallion with fleur-de-lis design motifs.the ornamental iron indicator retains the original detachable cast bronze numbers and single letter representing "basement." the indicator was likely fabricated by or for the elevator supply & repair company, chicago, il. the brushed metal finish has been treated with a clear coat lacquer. the germania building is an eight-story historic beaux-arts/classical revival style building in milwaukee, wisconsin. it was built in 1896 for george brumder to house the headquarters of his publishing empire. the 8-story building was designed by german-trained architects schnetzky & liebert and was, at the time of its construction, the largest office building in the city of milwaukee in addition to its characteristic copper pickelhaube domes, the building was graced by a 10-foot tall, three-ton bronze statue of germania on a plinth over the door. in 1918, the building's name was changed to the brumder building in response to anti-german sentiment during world war i, and the statue was removed discreetly in the night. efforts to trace the fate of the statue, which was stored for a while by sculptor cyril colnik, have proven futile, with one theory claiming that it was melted down for scrap during world war ii, and another speculating that it may have gone to the smithsonian institution, and possibly still be there. seventeen years after brumder's death in 1910, the printing presses were removed from the basement levels of the building, giving the city its first underground parking garage. the name was changed back to the germania building after a significant renovation in 1981. it was placed on the national register of historic places in july, 1983. measures 20 1/2 inches in diameter.