Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Monument, 1913
Herman Hahn
Lincoln Park
North Sheridan Road at
West Diversey Parkway
In
the late 1800s, a committee of Chicago’s German-Americans decided to raise
funds and pay homage to famous German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe (1749-1832). The original intent was to erect a monument in Lincoln
Park, opposite his friend and famous compatriot, Johann Christoph Friedrich von
Schiller. Munich professor and sculptor Herman Hahn (1868-1944) won a
competition where several models were submitted to the Art Institute of Chicago
by nine different sculptors. Dedication of the monument was greatly celebrated
and attended by dignitaries, including then-mayor Carter H. Harrison on June
13, 1914, a month before the outbreak of World War I. By January 1919, dislike
for Germans spurred a Chicago debate to rename nearby Goethe Street to Boxwood
Place instead. (The change, however, did not occur.)
Per
the request from the monument committee to create a work that was not strictly
a figurative portrait, Hahn created a sculpture that embodied the “spirit of
Goethe.” This 25-foot figure is reminiscent of a Greek god, possibly based on
Zeus. He holds an eagle on his knee, symbolizing Goethe’s “Olympian”
achievements. To the right of the statue is a low wall with a bas-relief
portrait of Goethe and a quotation (in German and English) from his famous
tragic play, Faust. The sculpture is
bronze with a rich brown patina; it has been repaired and conserved several
times over the years. In 1951, the statue suffered extensive damage after a
lightening strike to the left foot. The Chicago Park District had the foot and
ankle recast in one piece and reattached.
No comments:
Post a Comment