The late Mick Noll was a man who wore many hats: father, husband, restaurateur, bar owner, festival organizer, artist, Peace Corps member, churchgoer and, importantly, a Covingtonian.
The impact of Noll’s aspirations is still felt across the city today. He helped start several of Covington’s cherished cultural institutions, such as Mainstrasse Village and Oktoberfest, which still serve as some of the city’s most popular attractions and celebrations of its rich German heritage.
Many Northern Kentuckians may remember Noll as the man in the lederhosen serving sausages to Oktoberfest festival-goers with a smile on his face. To his family, he was a mythical figure of sorts – constantly hopping from project to project while also taking time out to help those in need, his son Ludwig told LINK nky.
“He was a chameleon,” Ludwig said. “He was never really about himself looking the best or being the best, or anything like that. It was all about the interaction between people and treating other people fairly and good.”
Noll’s business ventures reflected his creative side. When he saw a gap in the market or a space he was deadset on creating, he willed it into existence. His ideas weren’t basic, his wife Pat said. Much of the time, he was the only one who saw the vision.
One of his most famous entrepreneurial forays was Covington Haus, a German-style restaurant he opened with Pat in 1975. The restaurant was located at Covington Fire House Number One, a historic building at 100 West 6th Street in Covington’s Mutter Gottes neighborhood. Constructed in 1898 by Covington-based architect Daniel Seger, the firehouse is known for its Richardsonian Romanesque style.
According to Pat, the firehouse had fallen into disrepair over decades of aging and was under the threat of demolition. Mick, however, saw potential in the dilapidated structure. To him, the building represented a part of the city’s history; it hearkened back to a time when fire crews relied on horse-drawn steam pumpers and ladder wagons. With the proper investment, he and Pat could turn the firehouse into a community staple.
Covington Haus’s eclectic decor was its selling point. It allowed customers to experience German-American culture in a casual and friendly atmosphere, which Mick curated. Ludwig said Mick was personally fascinated with German culture and incorporated it into the branding and decor of several of his ventures.
“There wasn’t a place to go in Covington; there just wasn’t a place like that,” Ludwig said. “I think he saw that. He also saw the German heritage that was very pervasive in the community, that had kind of started to be celebrated, I think, but not fully. He saw this as a way to promote that heritage of coming together, being a community.”
The interior of Covington Haus boasted several taps from Bavarian Brewery, a historic Covington-based brewery. Wooden dinner tables populated the downstairs dining room, and, as Ludwig remembers, an iconic bear-head taxidermy watched over patrons on the second floor.
Ultimately, the Noll’s shut down Covington Haus in 1985, with Mick opting to pursue other projects. Today, the legacy of Noll and his restaurant carries on through West Sixth’s Brewing’s CovHaus.
In mid-2024, Lexington-based West Sixth Brewing announced that it planned to open a taproom inside the old firehouse in Covington. The space was previously home to Flying Axes, which announced its permanent closure earlier that year.
Since the closure of Covington Haus, the space has hosted several different businesses, including Tickets Sports Bar and Flying Axes. Although these businesses came and went, none seemed to impact the community’s culture in the same way as Covington Haus, Ludwig said.
“To have a community place there again – the other places have been there haven’t really tried to use the history or try to celebrate the building,” Ludwig said.
In a nod to Mick and the Noll family, West Sixth decided to aptly name the Covington taproom the ‘CovHaus,’ even going as far as to incorporate a lederhosen-clad cartoon character in its marketing, which Mick initially drew. Ludwig said West Sixth asked for the family’s blessing before using the name and branding.
On Jan. 5, patrons lined up out the door and up the sidewalk of the old firehouse in anticipation. It was a diverse crowd of old and young, all waiting in the cold to experience Covington’s newest taproom.
Noll’s son John compared the opening day scene to Covington Haus’s opening night. He said the restaurant had a massive line out the door, and Mick would hand out beers to help ease the wait.
“He started passing beer out the window to people in the line, just to get them happy and coming in,” John said.
Today, Mick is honored by a plaque on the front of the firehouse, which acknowledges his contributions to the building and city.
On Feb. 23—Mick Noll’s birthday—the City of Covington issued a proclamation dubbing it ‘Mick Noll Day’ within the city. Mayor Ron Washington declared that West Sixth’s CovHaus helped “restore the loving energy” to the firehouse.
For Noll’s family, the gesture is a reminder of how Mick dedicated his life to positively impacting the community.
“It’s such an honor for us to have him still being remembered,” Pat said. “A lot of people come up to me every day and say, I remember when he helped me.”
