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More Smithsonian Searches     Who else has...     Fettweis, Leopold,     Bast, Johann,     Schreiber, L.,     L. Schreiber & Sons,     Figure female -- Full length     Allegory -- Place     Allegory -- Place     Dress -- Historic     Dress -- Historic     Dress -- Accessory     Dress -- Accessory     Animal -- Bird     Object -- Foliage     Object -- Art Tool     Object -- Art Tool     Object -- Written Matter     Object -- Other     Object -- Tool     Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Cincinnati     Architectural component     Sculpture

Germania, (sculpture). Artist:  Fettweis, Leopold, sculptor. Bast, Johann, 1812-1880, architect. Schreiber, L., architect. L. Schreiber & Sons, architectural firm. Title:  Germania, (sculpture). Other Titles:  Columbia, (sculpture). Dates:  1877 or 1888. Rededicated 1917 or 1918. Digital Reference:  Medium:  Sculpture: limestone; Base: limestone. Dimensions:  Sculpture: approx. 6 x 3 x 2 ft.; Base: approx. 2 x 4 x 2 ft. Inscription:  (Hemline of cape:) E PLURIBUS UNUM Description:  Germania stands wearing a full-length garment, a breastplate with an eagle, and a helmet. A cape, clipped around her neck, hangs behind her and flows upward across her waist, gathering on her proper left side. She holds her proper right hand palm down with fingers outstretched where she once may have held a sword. In her proper left hand, which rests on a starred shield at thigh-level, she holds a stem of leaves. Below her feet, around a small eight-sided base, are objects symbolizing culture: a globe, books, a telescope, brushes and a palette, and a botanical specimen. The sculpture is mounted in an elevated niche of an Italian Renaissance Revival style red brick building with a limestone facade. Subject:  Figure female -- Full length Allegory -- Place -- Germany Allegory -- Place -- America Dress -- Historic -- Classical Dress Dress -- Historic -- Armor Dress -- Accessory -- Helmet Dress -- Accessory -- Shield Animal -- Bird -- Eagle Object -- Foliage Object -- Art Tool -- Artist's Brush Object -- Art Tool -- Palette Object -- Written Matter -- Book Object -- Other -- Globe Object -- Tool -- Telescope Object Type:  Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Cincinnati Architectural component Sculpture Owner:  Germania Building, 1127-9 Walnut Street, Second story niche, Cincinnati, Ohio Provenance:  Formerly located Columbia Building, 1127-9 Walnut Street, Second story niche, Cincinnati, Ohio Remarks:  Germania is the goddess representative of German culture and spirit. The sculpture was created by Leopold Fettweis for the Germania Building, which was erected in 1877 at a cost of $100,000 by Heinrich A. Ratterman, founder of the German Mutual Insurance Company. The building was designed by architect Johann Bast, and the cast-iron shop front and the cornice of the building was done by L. Schreiber of L. Schreiber & Sons. SOS! survey report gives 1877 as execution date of sculpture. An article from the Downtowner (Ohio), pg. 9, also in IAS files, states that the sculpture was carved in 1878. Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, the sculpture was briefly covered (in April 1918) with a black cloth and then an American flag. During World War I, the sculpture and the building were also rechristened "Columbia;" "E Pluribus Unum" was carved into the hemline of the cape; and an American eagle breastplate was added to the piece. The books, palette and brushes, globe, botanical specimen and telescope at the sculpture's feet may represent some of Mr. Ratterman's interests. IAS files contain related excerpts from: John Clubbe's "Cincinnati Observed," Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1992, pg. 225-226; G. Giglierano and D. Overmyer's "The Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati," Cincinnati: Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988, pg. 91-92; and Robert Wimberg's "Cincinnati: Over-the-Rhine," Cincinnati: The Ohio Book Store, 1987, pg. iv, 3, 4. IAS files also contain articles from: The Enquirer Magazine section of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 12, 1976, pg. 47; and the Downtowner (Ohio), May 5, 1982, pg. 9, 16. IAS files also contain a related tour and lecture announcement from the Victorian Society in America. The building was restored in 1970. References:  Save Outdoor Sculpture, Ohio, Cincinnati survey, 1994. Illustration:  Image on file. Wimberg, Robert J., "Cincinnati: Over-the-Rhine," Cincinnati: The Ohio Book Store, 1987, pg. 3. Note:  The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide. Repository:  Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 Control Number:  IAS OH000480   Copy/Holding information Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum Control Number   Inventory of American Sculpture OH000480 Add Copy to MyList Format: HTMLPlain textDelimited Subject:   Email to:

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