Frederick German Explained

Frederick George German
Birth Date:9 November 1863
Birth Place:Bath, Ontario, Canada
Death Place:Duluth, Minnesota
Significant Buildings:
  • YWCA of Duluth
  • Glen Avon Presbyterian Church, Duluth, Minnesota
  • Duluth Bethel, Duluth, Minnesota

Frederick George German (November 9, 1863 – October 13, 1937) was a Canadian-American architect who designed a number of notable buildings in Duluth, Minnesota.

Biography

German was born in Bath, Ontario, on November 9, 1863, and attended the University of Toronto and Brentford College Institute. He moved to Detroit, Michigan, and worked there as an architect, later working with McKim, Mead, & White in New York City for a time.[1] [2] Upon moving to Duluth in 1889, he worked as a draftsman for prominent architects Oliver Traphagen and Francis Wilford Fitzpatrick, including on the designs for the 1889 Duluth City Hall and the Oppel Block.[3] He then worked for the Lakeside Land Company and partnered briefly with John de Waard.[4]

In 1905, he started a partnership, German & Lignell, with Anton Werner Lignell, with whom he was most known for working. The two would go on to design a number of buildings together over the years, including the YWCA building and Glen Avon Presbyterian Church, and a number of homes in Duluth's East End.[5] [6] In 1906, Lignell and German were hired to draw the plans for the school – Villa Sancta Scholastica Academy – and the motherhouse at the College of St. Scholastica. Mother Scholastica Kerst disapproved of the plans due to potential defects in the building's design, and the two architects were fired from the project in 1908; it was taken over by Franklin Ellerbe.[7] [8] The two worked together until dissolving their firm in 1913.[9]

German then partnered with Leif Jenssen for a time, likely from 1913 until Jenssen's death in 1923. Their work together included the Pilgrim Congregational Church, Lincoln School, Superior High School, and a number of houses.

Among the buildings in Duluth designed by German are the Paulucci (Stone-Ordean-Wells) building,[10] the Marshall-Wells building, and the Duluth Bethel building.[11] He also designed the Virginia Recreation Building and Virginia City Hall in Virginia, Minnesota, both on the National Register of Historic Places.

German was appointed to the Minnesota architectural registration board by Governor J. A. O. Preus in 1921. He was also a member of the American Institute of Architects and served on Duluth's city planning commission for many years.[12]

German died of a heart attack in Duluth on October 13, 1937, at 73 years old.

Work

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dierckins . Tony . Norton . Maryanne C. . 2017-04-17 . Frederick German . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210415140423/http://zenithcity.com/archive/people-biography/frederick-german/ . 2021-04-15 . 2022-06-21 . Zenith City Online . en-US.
  2. Book: Lathrop, Alan K. . Minnesota architects: a biographical dictionary . . 2010 . 9780816644636 . Minneapolis . 78–79.
  3. Web site: Dierckins . Tony . Norton . Maryanne C. . 2017-04-17 . Oliver G. Traphagen . 2022-06-21 . Zenith City Online . 2021-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210415165157/http://zenithcity.com/archive/people-biography/oliver-g-traphagen/ . live .
  4. Book: Scott, James Allen . Duluth's legacy: text . City of Duluth . 1974 . 9780914582007 . 87, 164 . 1272610.
  5. Web site: Frederick German Archives . 2022-06-21 . Duluth Preservation Alliance . en-US . 2022-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621183949/https://duluthpreservation.org/architect/frederick-german/ . live .
  6. Silén . Saija . Finnish-American Architecture and Architects in Northern and Eastern Parts of the United States of America 1850–1950: from Rural Tradition to Urban Ideal . Fall 2008 . University of Jyväskylä .
  7. Mayerle . Judine . Fall 2017 . Celebrating 125 Years – The Journey Continues . live . Pathways . 9 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127003705/https://duluthbenedictines.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SO11967_Pathways_Fall17_1-1.pdf . 2020-11-27 . 2022-06-21.
  8. Web site: Hollingsworth . Jana . 2012-09-10 . What you didn't know about Duluth's 100-year-old college . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621124827/https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/what-you-didnt-know-about-duluths-100-year-old-college . 2022-06-21 . 2022-06-21 . Duluth News Tribune.
  9. Book: Van Brunt, Walter . Duluth and St. Louis County, Minnesota; their story and people; an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development . . 1921 . Chicago, New York . 970 . 1321031814.
  10. Web site: Moran . Kenneth J. . (Still Image) Aerial Lift Bridge: Sea smoke on Lake Superior, Duluth, Minnesota,(1975?) . 2022-06-21 . University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections . 2022-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621183951/https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:4170 . live .
  11. Web site: Dierckins . Tony . Norton . Maryanne C. . 2017-04-21 . Duluth Bethel (1911) . 2022-06-21 . Zenith City Online . en-US . 2021-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210415174835/http://zenithcity.com/archive/historic-architecture/duluth-bethel-1911/ . live .
  12. News: October 1937 . F. G. German Came Here in 1892 PIONEER DIES . 14 . Duluth Herald.
  13. Web site: Frederick G. German and A. Werner Lignell . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201018141534/https://duluthmn.gov/media/5703/dhrs4.pdf . 2020-10-18 . 2022-06-21 . duluthmn.gov.
  14. Web site: Dierckins . Tony . Norton . Maryanne C. . 2017-04-21 . Duluth Downtown Y.W.C.A. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210415162805/http://zenithcity.com/archive/historic-architecture/duluth-downtown-y-w-c-a/ . 2021-04-15 . 2022-06-21 . Zenith City Online . en-US.
  15. Web site: Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. . Historic Resources Inventory Phase IV: East End Residential Area . 2022-06-21 . duluthmn.gov . 2022-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220320001226/https://duluthmn.gov/media/5741/revised-phase-iv-report.pdf . live .
  16. News: Lundy . John . 2019-11-24 . Out of a former East Hillside church complex, new hope grows for foster children. . . 2022-06-21 . Gale OneFile: News . 2022-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621183957/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALEA606599333&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-STND&asid=3aa904a0 . live .
  17. News: Renalls . Candace . 2011-09-05 . Ragstock's expansion leads to renovation of historic building in downtown Duluth . . 2022-06-21 . . 2022-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621183954/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALEA266148106&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-STND&asid=473bb263 . live .

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