Introduction

Chapter I Introduction It is not the purpose of this book to give a comprehensive account of German migrations to the Americas or of German settlements or institu- tions in the Americas. This task has already been accomplished, at least as far as the United States are concerned, by other researchers.1 Rather, this book aims to draw attention to German monuments in the Americas. Most of the monuments to be examined are to be found in the United States, but there are a few German monuments also in Canada and in South America; hence “Americas.” By “German monuments” I under- stand 1. monuments created in Germany and shipped across the Atlantic, e.g. the Heine Memorial, or Lorelei Fountain, in the Bronx, 2. monuments to German personalities, e.g. the Goethe monument in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, and 3. monuments, regardless of subject, by German artists (including Swiss and Austrian) in the Americas, e.g. Karl Bitter’s statue of Thomas Jef ferson in the rotunda of the Jef ferson Memorial, Forest Park, St Louis. The number of monuments which would qualify for inclusion in this study, meeting one or more of these criteria, is surprisingly large. One researcher estimates the number of bronze monuments of German prov- enience in the United States at 150.2 The Smithsonian Institution’s Art 1 Albert B. Faust, The German Element in the U.S. (2 vols. New York 1927). LaVern J. Rippley, The German-Americans (Boston 1976). Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Germany and America (Bowie, MD, 1991). Don Heinrich Tolzmann, The German-American Experience: A Revised and Expanded Edition of Theodore Huebener’s The Germans in America (Amherst, NY, 2000). Thomas Adam, ed., Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia (3 vols. Santa Barbara, CA, 2005). 2 Schmidt, “Fritz Reuter in Erz auf Stein” 39. 2 Chapter I Inventories Catalog has 117 entries for Karl Bitter alone! German sculptors were numerous in the United States in the 19th century particularly, and they produced prolifically, not limiting themselves to German subjects. This book, therefore, is by no means a catalog, but can of fer a selection only. It has been my unhappy observation on both sides of the Atlantic that many people, perhaps most people, pay preciously little attention to public monuments, do not appreciate them as works of art, and do not know their history and significance, even if these monuments are located in their own neighborhood. In the United States demographic changes in urban environ- ments have contributed to this. In Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, for instance, Germans once were the dominant element, and they erected monuments to Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and explorer (1769–1859), and to Fritz Reuter, German novelist (1810–1874). Today Puerto Ricans are the dominant element in that same neighborhood. Can one really expect them to take an interest in these monuments? Maintenance of outdoor sculpture is expensive, and budget restrictions at times account for lack of care. The monument to John A. Roebling in Trenton’s Cadwalader Park (see Chapter II) might serve as an example.3 Worst of all, of course, is the damage done by vandals.4 Sadly enough, vandals seem to derive pleasure from destroying cultural property. A study of German monuments in the Americas, in their historical context, can contribute much to strengthening bonds across the Atlantic and to understanding both American and German history. It is my fond hope that this book might find many readers on both sides of the Atlantic. 3 The Smithsonian’s Art Inventories Catalog reported in 1994 that maintenance was needed. Fifteen years later the monument is still waiting. 4 Alexander Demandt, Vandalismus: Gewalt gegen Kultur (Berlin 1997). Among the monuments depicted in Lederer, All Around the Town, I have counted 27 which had been defaced by graf fiti..

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