Adolph Strauch (b. August 30, 1822 – 1883) was a renowned

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

born in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, known particularly for his layout designs of cemeteries like Spring Grove Cemetery in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Forest Lawn in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to ...

and Oak Woods Cemetery 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 population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Strauch also laid out many parks in Cincinnati, Ohio, including Eden Park, Burnet Woods and

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

. Strauch was hired by Spring Grove Cemetery in 1855 to handle the landscaping, and became superintendent of the place by 1859. He also designed Greenwood Cemetery (Hamilton, Ohio).

Biography

Born in the province of Silesia of Prussia in 1822, Strauch began learning the art of landscaping around 1838, at age sixteen, when he studied in Vienna, Austria, under gardeners at Schönbrunn Palace and Schloss Laxenburg. It was at Schönbrunn Palace that he became recognized in the craft by Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, who praised his work and befriended Strauch. By 1845 Strauch had left Vienna to get a more thorough idea of gardening techniques used in areas like Belgium, Germany and France.

Career

In 1852, soon after arriving in the U.S., Strauch designed Mount Storm Park in Cincinnati in the neighborhood of Clifton, which was at that time the private villa estate of entrepreneur Robert A. Bowler. His reputation quickly grew and he designed many private gardens in that area. After reading ''Cosmos'' by

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

, with its depictions of grave gardens in China, Strauch was inspired to implement similar plans in the United States. By lessening the appearance of gaudy monuments and railings that were so much a part of cemetery layouts at the time, Strauch focused more on expansive areas of lawn and clusters of trees and shrubs. He did allow some monuments to be constructed or kept, but only those that met certain specifications (typically those with a Gothic appearance). After redesigning the layout of Spring Grove Cemetery, which had been rundown and filled with swampland, the cemetery was transformed into an area of scenic lakes and clusters of trees and bushes. The project earned Strauch praise in the U.S. and abroad, including from

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and the French landscape architect Edouard André. Other cemeteries, like

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, modelled their landscaping concept after Spring Grove.

References

German gardeners American landscape architects Architects from Cincinnati 1822 births 1883 deaths American designers Prussian emigrants to the United States {{Horticulture-stub