![]() Alexander von Humboldt statue (2014) | |
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41°54′19.73″N87°42′5.29″W / 41.9054806°N 87.7014694°W | |
Location | Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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Designer | Felix Görling H.C. Hoffman & Co. (pedestal) |
Builder | Gladenbeck foundry H.C. Hoffman & Co. (pedestal) |
Material | Bronze Granite (pedestal) |
Height | 10 feet (3.0 m) |
Dedicated date | October 16, 1892 |
Dedicated to | Alexander von Humboldt |
The Alexander von Humboldt statue is a monumental statue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located in Humboldt Park, a major urban park in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, the statue depicts Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian polymath and the park's namesake. The statue was dedicated in 1892.
The park and surrounding neighborhood were named in honor of Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian polymath who, among other things, made numerous scientific voyages throughout the Americas during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. [1] Despite never having visited Chicago during any of his journeys, he became the park's namesake in 1869. [2] According to Chicago's NPR affiliate, the name was chosen due to "ethnic politics", as German Americans made up a significant portion of the neighborhood's population and were considered a growing voting bloc in the politics of Chicago. [1] The monument was paid for by Francis Dewes, a German-born brewer who is also known for the Francis J. Dewes House in Chicago. [1]
The statue was dedicated on October 16, 1892. [3] The unveiling ceremony, which saw speeches given in English, German, and Swedish, attracted approximately 20,000 spectators. [4] The bronze figure of Humboldt was sculpted by a German sculptor named Felix Görling and was cast in the Gladenbeck foundry in Berlin. The pedestal was designed and made by H.C. Hoffman & Co., a Chicago-based company, using granite from Freeport, Maine. [3] Notable speakers at the unveiling included Chicago Mayor Hempstead Washburne and University of Chicago professor Albion Woodbury Small. [5] The statue is one of several of Humboldt erected in the United States during the 1800s, alongside statues in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. [6]
The monument features a bronze sculpture of Humboldt atop a granite pedestal, with the entire height of the monument being approximately 10 feet (3.0 m). Humboldt is posed as a lecturer, with a flower in his raised right hand and a book in his left hand, which is resting on a tree stump. A globe and other smaller symbols of some of the scientific fields Humboldt was involved in are present near his feet. [3]
New York City's 843-acre (3.41 km2) Central Park is the home of many works of public art in various media, such as bronze, stone, and tile. Many are sculptures in the form of busts, statues, equestrian statues, and panels carved or cast in low relief. Others are two-dimensional bronze or tile plaques. Some artworks do double-duty as fountains, or as part of fountains; some serve as memorials dedicated to a cause, to notable individuals, and in one case, to a notable animal. Most were donated by individuals or civic organizations; only a few were funded by the city.
Humboldt Park is a 207-acre (84 ha) park located at 1400 North Sacramento Avenue in West Town, on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It opened in 1877, and is one of the largest parks on the West Side. The park's designers include William Le Baron Jenney, and Jens Jensen.
The Luther Monument is a public artwork located in front of Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., United States. The monument to Martin Luther, the theologian and Protestant Reformer, is a bronze, full-length portrait. It is a copy of the statue created by Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel as part of the 1868 Luther Monument in Worms, Germany. The version in Washington, D.C., inspired the installation of many other castings across the U.S. The statue is a contributing property to the Luther Place Memorial Church's listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (DCIHS). It is also a contributing property to the Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District, which is also listed on the NRHP and DCIHS.
The Goethe–Schiller Monument is a public artwork by German artist Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel located in Washington Park, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The bronze sculpture from 1908 depicts two men, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller, one holding a laurel wreath and the other a scroll. The 12 foot artwork rests upon a 26 foot long granite base. The bronze sculpture is a recasting of the statue incorporated into the 1857 Goethe-Schiller Monument in Weimar, Germany.
The original Goethe–Schiller Monument is in Weimar, Germany. It incorporates Ernst Rietschel's 1857 bronze double statue of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749–1832) and Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), who are probably the two most revered figures in German literature. The monument has been described "as one of the most famous and most beloved monuments in all of Germany" and as the beginning of a "cult of the monument". Dozens of monuments to Goethe and to Schiller were built subsequently in Europe and the United States.
Ferdinand Miller, from 1875 von Miller and from 1912 Freiherr von Miller was an ore caster, sculptor and director of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. He also held a seat in the Royal Bavarian House of Lords, the Reichsrat.
The Goethe–Schiller Monument in Syracuse, New York incorporates a copper double-statue of the German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) and Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805). It was erected by the German-American organizations of Syracuse and Onondaga County, and was unveiled on October 15, 1911. Schiller, who is on the reader's right in the photograph, was called the "poet of freedom" in the US, and he had an enormous 19th Century following. The Syracuse monument was the last of 13 monuments to Schiller that were erected in US cities. Goethe was the "supreme genius of modern German literature"; he and Schiller are paired in the statue because they had a friendship "like no other known to literature or art." As Paul Zanker writes, in the statue a "fatherly Goethe gently lays his hand on the shoulder of the restless Schiller, as if to quiet the overzealous passion for freedom of the younger generation." Goethe is holding a laurel wreath in his right hand, and Schiller's right hand is reaching towards it.
Francis Joseph Dewes was a Chicago brewer and millionaire. Born in Losheim, near Trier in Prussia on April 8, 1845, he was the son of Peter Dewes, a brewer and member of the German parliament. Francis Dewes emigrated to the United States of America in 1868 and settled in Chicago. There he found employment as a bookkeeper for established brewing companies such as Rehm and Bartholomae and the Busch and Brand Brewing Company. After rising through the ranks, he founded his own successful brewing firm—F. J. Dewes Brewery Company—in 1881, which would become City Brewing Company in 1898. Shortly thereafter Dewes took over the presidency at the Standard Brewery.
Adolf Brütt was a German sculptor. He was the founder of the Weimarer Bildhauerschule and its accompanying bronze foundry.
The Alexander von Humboldt Memorial to the right of the Humboldt University main building on Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin's Mitte district commemorates the Prussian polymath and natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859). Created in 1882 by Reinhold Begas in neo-baroque style, the marble statue is a masterpiece of the Berlin school of sculpture.
The Wilhelm von Humboldt Memorial to the left of the Humboldt University main building on Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin's Mitte district commemorates the Prussian polymath and education reformer Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Created in 1882 by Paul Otto in neo-baroque style, the marble statue is a masterpiece of the Berlin school of sculpture.
General John Logan Memorial, also known as the John Alexander Logan Monument, is an outdoor bronze sculpture commemorating John A. Logan by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Alexander Phimister Proctor, in a setting by architect Stanford White. Installed in Chicago's Grant Park, in the U.S. state of Illinois, the statue and pedestal sit atop a memorial mound, with a ceremonial stairway leading to the summit.
J. Marion Sims is a bronze sculpture depicting the American physician of the same name by Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller.
The statue of Alexander von Humboldt is installed in Mexico City's Alameda Central, in Mexico. The base has the inscription, "La Nación Mexicana a Alejandro de Humboldt – Benemerito de la Patria 1799–1999". The statue was built after Humboldt visited Mexico.
The Alexander Hamilton statue is a monumental statue of Alexander Hamilton in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located in the city's Lincoln Park, the monument was installed in 1952, having been completed several years prior in 1939.
The Alexander von Humboldt statue is a monumental statue of Alexander von Humboldt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in Fairmount Park, the statue was completed in 1871 and donated to the city in 1876.
The Leif Erikson statue is a monumental statue honoring Leif Erikson in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located in the city's Humboldt Park, the statue was designed by Sigvald Asbjørnsen and erected in 1901.
The Richard J. Oglesby statue is a monumental statue of Richard J. Oglesby in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Dedicated in 1919, the statue was designed by Leonard Crunelle and located in the city's Lincoln Park.
Ferdinand Lepcke was a German sculptor, who in particular realized two major monuments in Bydgoszcz: the Deluge Fountain and The Archer. He received a golden medal at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition and, the Berlin Minister for Spiritual Education and Medical Affairs awarded him the title of professor.
The statue of Robert Burns in Denver, Colorado, is a work of public art by the Scottish artist William Grant Stevenson, RSA. The Robert Burns Memorial in Denver consists of a bronze statue of the Scottish poet Robert Burns standing on a granite pedestal. The memorial was donated to the City of Denver by the Caledonia Club, No 1, of Colorado and was unveiled on July 4, 1904. The Robert Burns Memorial was the first public memorial to be erected in the City of Denver.