Adolphus Druiding

{{short description|American architect}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Adolphus Druiding

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = 1839

| birth_place = Hanover, Germany

| death_date = 1900

| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States

| other_names =

| nationality = American

| known_for == Adolphus Druiding, Architect

}}

Adolphus Druiding (1838–1900) was a German-born American architect who was best known for his work in creating Roman Catholic churches, schools, rectories and convents. Druiding’s work along with that of fellow German immigrant Franz Georg Himpler (1833–1916) makes up the largest body of German Catholic architecture in the United States between the end of the Civil War and 1900.Roy A. Hampton III, German Gothic in the Midwest: The parish Churches of Franz Georg Himpler and Adolphus Druiding {{JSTOR|25154572}}

Early life and career

Druiding was born May 29, 1838, in Aschendorf, a province of Hanover, Germany. He studied at the Secondary School in Papenburg and at the Polytechnic School in Munich where he graduated with honors. He worked briefly at a French architect’s office and then entered government service in Munich. After this he studied in Berlin under Strach, Adler and Local. He built one church in Schoenwalde and was employed erecting government stations in the Netherlands.

Architectural practice

In 1865 after completing his work in the Netherlands, Druiding came to the United States where he enjoyed an extensive practice in the design of Roman Catholic Churches throughout the Midwest.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PAEuWqON1FkC|title=Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention of the American Institute of Architects|last=Architects|first=American Institute of|date=1899-01-01|publisher=Committee on Library and Publications|language=en}}

Druiding was noted as an aggressive businessman who was prepared to assume projects large and small.{{cite web|url=http://www.setonhill.edu/studentlife/chapel.cfm |title=Seton Hill University - A Leading Catholic Liberal Arts University in Greensburg Pennsylvania |accessdate=2011-02-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529190947/http://www.setonhill.edu/studentlife/chapel.cfm |archivedate=2010-05-29 }} Seaton Hall Chapel article discusses Druiding aggressiveness. This was quite unlike his countryman and fellow architect Franz Georg Himpler who designed far fewer buildings than Druiding, but more of Himpler's buildings survive to the present day.

Legacy

Druiding was one of perhaps 20 American architects who contributed most of the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical architecture throughout the later part of the 19th century. His church buildings are much admired locally, have been featured in books on church architecture{{Cite book |last=McNamara |first=Denis Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDZMAFxPxwMC&pg=PA50 |title=Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago |date=2005 |publisher=LiturgyTrainingPublications |isbn=978-1-56854-503-5 |language=en}} and have found their way to some of the National Registers.

Works

=Alabama=

File:Cathedral of St. Paul Birmingham Nov 2011 01.jpg

=Arkansas=

=District of Columbia=

=Iowa=

=New York=

=Ohio=

File:St. John's at Maria Stein front and western side.jpg

=Illinois=

=Indiana=

=Kentucky=

=Minnesota=

  • Saints Peter and Paul, Glencoe, MN (now St. Pius X)
  • Saint Michael, Prior Lake, MN (1890 church)
  • Saint Michael Church, Saint Michael, MN
  • Saint Mary Church, Waverly, MN

=Missouri=

File:Saint Alphonsus Liguori Church (St. Louis, MO) - exterior.jpg

=New Jersey=

=Pennsylvania=

=South Dakota=

=Wisconsin=

  • St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay, Wisconsin
  • St. Joseph's Church, Waukesha, Wisconsin{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=83004355}}|title=Intensive Survey Form: St. Joseph's Catholic Church Complex|publisher=State Historical Society of Wisconsin|date=1982-02-10|accessdate=2017-05-09}} With {{NRHP url|id=83004355|photos=y|title=seven photos.}}
  • St. Mary Oratory. Wausau, WIhttp://www.institute-christ-king.org/wausau/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120080421/http://www.institute-christ-king.org/wausau/ |date=2011-01-20 }} St. Mary Oratory
  • St. Mary Church, Oshkosh, WI
  • St. Mary (originally “of the Immaculate Conception”) Catholic Church, Menasha, Wisconsin{{cite web|title=St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828-4294963813&dsRecordDetails=R:HI51696|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|accessdate=2020-10-26|date = October 2020}}
  • St. Mary's Church, Kaukauna, WI{{cite web|title=St. Mary's Catholic Church (and School)|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828-4294963813&dsRecordDetails=R:HI51696|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|accessdate=2015-02-05|date = January 2012}}

References