Friedrich Schiller - St. Louis, MO - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This statue of Friedrich Schiller is located in Memorial Plaza at Market Street and 14th Street in downtown St. Louis. "The statue Friedrich Schiller was a gift to the city from George Stifel in honor of the German poet. The sculpture is an exact reproduction of one that Rau did in Schiller's birthplace, Marbach, Germany. Rau sculpted this bronze statue with Schiller's left leg forward and right arm at his chest, regal and dignified. It was originally installed in November of 1898 at St. Louis Place Park. It was moved to its current location in the 1970's.

Rau was born in Biberach an der Riss, Germany, in 1839. He died in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1875." (visit link)

Furthermore, the Art Inventories Catalog describes this statue as follows:

"Standing male figure holding a pen in his proper right hand, and a roll of papers in his proper left hand. His proper right arm is bent at the elbow so that the pen is held in front of his chest. His proper left arm hangs down at his side. He stands with his proper left leg forward.

Figure: approx. 10 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. x 3 ft.; Base: approx. 11 x 11 x 11 ft." (visit link)

"Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller; 10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents to their philosophical vision.

The first significant biography of Schiller was by his sister-in-law Caroline von Wolzogen in 1830.

The coffin containing Schiller's skeleton is in the Weimarer Fürstengruft (Weimar's Ducal Vault), the burial place of Houses of Grand Dukes (großherzogliches Haus) of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the Historical Cemetery of Weimar. On 3 May 2008, scientists announced that DNA tests have shown that the skull of this skeleton is not Schiller's, and his tomb is now vacant. The physical resemblance between this skull and the extant death mask as well as to portraits of Schiller, had led many experts to believe that the skull was Schiller's.

The city of Stuttgart has named a square Schillerplatz and erected a statute in his memory on that square in 1839.

In September 2008, Schiller was voted by the audience of the TV channel Arte as the second most important playwright in Europe after William Shakespeare.

Schiller has become an inextricable part of pop culture at the American undergraduate college, Carleton College, in Northfield, Minnesota. Several secret student groups on campus own busts of Schiller, which they show at popular campus events. Other students are set on stealing these busts from the secret societies. The Carleton's beloved "DVD Fest" has, in past years, been renamed "The Golden Schillers. The college has also named its student dollars "Schillers", and the "Schiller Society" is part of the admissions office." (visit link)

TITLE: Friedrich Schiller ARTIST(S): Ernst Rau DATE: 11/10/1898 MEDIUM: Figure: bronze; Base: Missouri red granite. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 76000977 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Located Memorial Plaza, Market & 14th Streets, St. Louis, Missouri DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None noted.

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