Arthur Hercz (June 12, 1866 – February 3, 1941) was a

Hungarian American Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...

architect and artistic director active in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Biography

Educated at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

, Hercz arrived in Chicago in the early 1890s to work on the German exhibition at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

. He remained in the city for the rest of his career. Along with his then-business partner

Adolph Cudell Adolph Cudell (1850 – August 18, 1910) was an architect practicing in Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a popula ...

, Hercz designed the Francis J. Dewes House in 1896, a notable Baroque style landmark in Chicago. His architectural works were primarily residences, churches, and restaurants, and he opened his studio, Arthur Hercz Studios, in 1916. In addition to his architectural work, Hercz was director of many large public pageants and festivals, often benefiting civic causes. Hercz was married to Anna-Sophie Raster, the daughter of

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

newspaper editor

Hermann Raster Hermann Raster (May 6, 1827 – July 24, 1891) was an American editor, abolitionist, writer, and anti-temperance political boss who served as chief editor and part-owner of the '' Illinois Staats-Zeitung'', a widely circulated newspaper in the ...

. Hercz died in Chicago in 1941 at the age of 74. The

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street (Chicago) ...

maintains a large collection of Hercz's manuscripts, posthumously donated by his family in the 1990s.

References

External links

Arthur Hercz papers
a
the Chicago History Museum
1866 births 1941 deaths Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Architects from Chicago Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States {{US-architect-19C-stub