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

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

Biography

German was born in Bath, Ontario, on November 9, 1863, and attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

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. 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. He then worked for the Lakeside Land Company and partnered briefly with John de Waard. In 1905, he started a partnership, German & Lignell, with

Anton Werner Lignell Anton Werner Lignell (November 7, 1867 – February 9, 1954) was a Finnish architect known for designing buildings in Butte, Montana; Duluth, Minnesota; and two courthouses in Minnesota. His style tended towards Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux- ...

, 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. In 1906, Lignell and German were hired to draw the plans for the school – Villa Sancta Scholastica Academy – and the

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

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 Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historica ...

. The two worked together until dissolving their firm in 1913. German then partnered with

Leif Jenssen Leif Gøran Jenssen (born 19 March 1948) is a former Norwegian weightlifter. He became Olympic Champion in 1972 in the light-heavyweight class.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, the Marshall-Wells building, and the Duluth Bethel building. He also designed the Virginia Recreation Building and Virginia City Hall in

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Iron Range's commercial center. The population was ...

, both on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. 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 The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

and served on Duluth's city planning commission for many years. German died of a heart attack in Duluth on October 13, 1937, at 73 years old.

Work

* Clara M. Smith residence (1903) * A. C. Weiss residence (1904) * Glen Avon Presbyterian Church (1905) * Luther Mendenhall houses (1905) * Duluth Yacht Club, Oatka Beach Building (1906) * Marvin Memorial Building () * Freimuth Building (1907) * First Street Department Store () * Donald B. McDonald residence (1908) * YMCA building (1908) * William and Margrette Cole residence (1908) * YWCA building (1909) * West Duluth

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

Hall (1911) * Duluth Marine Supply Building (1912) * Ward Ames house (1912) * First Church of Christ, Scientist (1912) * St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church (1922–1923) * 9 West Superior Street building, third floor addition * Virginia Recreation Building * Virginia City Hall

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German, Frederick 1863 births 1937 deaths 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects 19th-century Canadian architects 20th-century Canadian architects