Frederick Widmann (1859-1925) was a German-born American architect and philanthropist.

Early life

Frederick Widmann was born in 1859 in Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1874, settling in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Widmann was an apprentice carpenter to Walsh and Jungenfeld for three years and he studied at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Career

Widmann co-founded Widmann & Walsh, an architectural firm with Robert W. Walsh. Around 1900, alongside architect Caspar D. Boisselier they designed the Orthwein Mansion for

William D. Orthwein William David Orthwein (February 9, 1841 - 1925) was a German-born American Civil War veteran and grain merchant in St. Louis, Missouri. Early life William David Orthwein was born on February 9, 1841, in Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany. His father ...

, which is listed 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 ...

. Meanwhile, Widmann designed "many large industrial plants, public buildings, and some of the largest breweries in the country, including the

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

plants in St. Louis, Omaha, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago, and New York." In 1903, he designed "The Pike" for the

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mill ...

1904. Widmann designed his private residence at 3545 Longfellow Boulevard in

Compton Heights Compton Heights is a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. It is bordered by Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered ...

, a German enclave of

. It was designed in the

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

architectural style, with a side

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. Beyond architecture, Widmann was also an explorer of

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

and oilfields in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

from 1883 to 1923.

Philanthropy

Widmann was a member of the Liederkranz Club, a German-American social club in St. Louis. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served as the President of the St. Louis War Relief Bazaar. The organization raised US$100,000 for German orphans and widows. To honor his effort, Widmann was the recipient of the second degree of the Austro-Hungarian Red Cross from Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

in 1916.

Death and legacy

Widmann died in 1925. In his will, Widmann endowed the Frederick Widmann Prize in Architecture at the

Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is a part of Washington University in St. Louis. The Sam Fox School was founded in 2006 by uniting the academic units of Architecture and Art with the university's Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. It is d ...

of his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. The prize gives US$1,500 to an architecture student annually. Furthermore, Widmann Canyon in

was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widmann, Frederick 1859 births 1925 deaths Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Architects from St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis alumni American architects American philanthropists