German Village is a historic neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, just south of the city's downtown. It was settled in the early-to-mid-19th century by a large number of German immigrants, who at one time comprised as much as a third of the city's entire population. It became a city historic district in 1960[2] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, becoming the list's largest privately funded preservation district,[3] and in 2007, was made a Preserve America Community by the federal government. In 1980, its boundaries increased, and today it is one of the world's premier historic restorations.
In 1796, Congress appropriated the Refugee Lands for Canadian province individuals who had supported the Colonial cause in the American Revolution. By 1802, an American Revolution veteran named John McGowan claimed 328 acres (1.33 km2), most of what would become the German Village. As German immigrants arrived, McGowan sold tracts of land to them. By 1814, a settlement had grown up, originally called "Das Alte Südende" (the Old South End), and German immigrants contributed to building the first statehouse.
By 1830, massive German immigration to the city had occurred. The most influential German newspaper in 1843 was Der Westbote. Many would serve in the American Civil War, thus gaining the universal respect of the local citizens. By 1865, one-third of Columbus's population was German and the community was flourishing. They built up the local neighborhood, including many businesses, such as Hessenauer Jewelers and Lazarus Department Stores, schools, and churches, such as the Ohio-historic St. Mary's Catholic Church, built in 1865 and adorned with a 197-foot (60 m) steeple in 1893.[4] German-American George J. Karb became mayor of the city, twice, at the end of the 19th century and again in the early 20th century.[5]
During the early 20th century, the south end saw newcomers from eastern Europe aside from German immigrants, resulting in brother neighborhoods such as the Hungarian Village.[6]
The local schools the German immigrants constructed and managed were so superior that English-speaking residents of Columbus chose to attend them, such as one that once stood at Fulton Street east of S. Fourth Street.[5][7]
Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I hero from the Columbus German-American community
The area was in serious decline throughout the first half of the 20th century, partly due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. During that time, the teaching of German in public schools was banned and German textbooks were burned. German street names were changed, such as Germania Street becoming the present-day Stewart Avenue,[8] and Schiller Park was temporarily renamed Washington Park. The anti-German sentiment fueled by the media was so bad that in 1918, German books were burned on Broad Street and at the foot of the Schiller statue. German canine breeds were taken from their owners and slaughtered, including German Shepherds and Dachshunds. Despite the hatred, the Columbus German American community would produce one of America's finest heroes from the war, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, for whom Rickenbacker International Airport in southern Columbus is named.
Further decline occurred later due to the closing of the local breweries during Prohibition. After the war, the south end was zoned for manufacturing, leading to the erosion of the area's residential feel. In World War II, the streetcar tracks and wrought-iron fences were confiscated for the war effort. By the 1950s, the area had become a slum and the city decided to demolish one-third of the neighborhood.[9][10]
With the Village nearing complete destruction, Frank Fetch defied the common wisdom and purchased a house on S. Wall Street, determined to rebuild the neighborhood. Fetch would create the German Village Society. In June 1960, the society hosted the first Haus und Garten Tour, which attracted visitors and the local media to eight restored homes and two gardens. Today, the tour is one of the city's most popular events.[11] Frank Fetch Park was named after him.
Concerned citizens managed to save its historic architecture from demolition in the 1960s by lobbying for a local commission, the German Village Commission, to have power over external changes made to buildings and by getting the area listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[11] As of 2009, the German Village Society has over 1,000 preservationists who maintain the historic quality of the buildings and neighborhood, and German Village is considered one of the most desirable areas to live in the city.[12] More than 1,600 buildings have been restored since 1960 and it is credited as one of the world's premiere restoration districts.[13] By the 1980s, the restoration was nearly complete. Today, it is the largest privately funded historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]
German tradition has long reigned in the community in the form of an annual Oktoberfest festival. It originally took place in Schiller Park and has been held at various locations within the German Village neighborhood. Due to new development in the area, it now takes place at the Ohio State Fairgrounds / Ohio Expo Center. The festival was voted to be canceled in 2009, but the Schmidt (owners and operators of Schmidt's Sausage Haus) and Cox families stepped in to keep it running.[17] A smaller Oktoberfest still goes on in the German Village itself, at the Germania Gesang und Sport Verein (Singing and Sports Club) at 543 South Front Street in the old Schlee Brewmaster's House and outdoor garden.[18]
Although German Village is an eclectic community, the area is known as a residential gay village. While there are no gay establishments within German Village, the neighboring Brewery District and Merion Village have several.
Much of the area in present-day south downtown along I-70 was at one point considered part of German Village, including the Market Exchange District, which has experienced a revival alongside German Village.[19]
German Village is bound by Pearl Street on the west; East Livingston Avenue on the north; Lathrop Street, Brust Street, Grant Avenue, Jaeger Street, and Blackberry Alley on the east; and Nursery Lane on the south. [20]
Schiller Park, named after Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), was once a community meeting ground for German immigrants. It is now the site of recreational facilities, gardens, and an amphitheater that hosts free live performances of Shakespearean plays during the summer months courtesy of Actors' Theatre of Columbus.[21] It is bounded by Jaeger Street and City Park, Reinhard, and Deshler Avenues. It has been the area's center for festivals and neighborhood activities since the 1800s.
The 23-acre park's main entrance, along City Park Avenue, greets visitors with the Huntington Gardens, sponsored by Huntington National Bank and maintained by volunteers, and the Schiller statue. The statue was presented to the park by local residents in 1891. It is a second casting of the statue in Munich, Germany, designed and executed by Max von Widnmann and unveiled on May 9, 1863. The Columbus statue was transported free of charge across the Atlantic. The park is also home to Umbrella Girl, dedicated to the citizens of German Village in October 1996 to replace the missing original sculpture.
The neighborhood's Stewart Alternative Elementary School, was built in 1874. It is one of the oldest remaining school buildings in Columbus, built at the same time as the First and Second Avenue Schools, also still extant.[22]
El relicario, que fue realizado aproximadamente entre 1190 y 1225 por el orfebre Nicolás de Verdún, es considerado el relicario más grande y artísticamente exigente que se ha conservado de la Edad Media. Está construido en dos niveles en forma de basílica y decorado con figuras doradas, joyas de piedras preciosas, gemas, camafeos y esmaltes, que ilustran la historia de la salvación cristiana desde los comienzos del Antiguo Testamento hasta el Juicio Final. Se le considera el punto culminante del arte mosano y el relicario más grande en el mundo occidental.
Moneda de plata de Colonia de 1516 que representa a los Reyes Magos.
Durante la Segunda cruzada, el obispo de Milán San Eustorgio, religioso noble de origen helénico, visitó Constantinopla para que el Emperador le permitiera aceptar su reciente nombramiento; este no sólo le dio su consentimiento, sino que además le hizo un regalo inolvidable: las veneradas reliquias rescatadas en el año 300 d. C. por la emperatriz Elena, madre del emperador romano Constantino I, en Saba.
En los días de Felipe de Heinsberg fue construido el relicario de los tres magos. Esto me fue confirmado por algunos testigos oculares que estaban presentes cuando los tres magos fueron puestos en el relicario.
Partes del relicario fueron diseñadas por el famoso orfebre medieval, Nicolás de Verdún, que empezó el trabajo en el año 1180 o 1181. Tiene esculturas de oro elaboradas de los profetas y apóstoles, y de las escenas de la vida de Cristo. El relicario se completó hacia 1225.
Alrededor de 1199, el emperador Otón IV entregó tres coronas áureas para los reyes magos como un donación a la iglesia de Colonia: «Otto rex coloniensis curiam celebrans tres coronas de auro capitibus trium magorum imposuit»; MGSS 17, 292. A causa de la importancia del relicario y la catedral para el posterior desarrollo de la ciudad, el escudo de armas de Colonia muestra todavía las tres coronas que simbolizan a los Tres Reyes.
La construcción de la actual catedral de Colonia se empezó en 1248 para albergar estas importantes reliquias. La construcción de la catedral tomó 632 años, para llegar a ser actualmente la iglesiagótica más grande de Europa septentrional.
El 20 de julio de 1864, el relicario se abrió, y fueron descubiertos restos de los Tres Reyes y monedas de Philipp von Heinsberg. El informe de un testigo ocular cuenta:
En un compartimiento especial del relicario que ahora se ve —junto con lo que queda de antiguas, viejas y podridas vendas, probablemente de biso, y con restos de resinas aromáticas y sustancias semejantes— numerosos huesos de tres personas, que bajo la guía de varios expertos presentes se podrían reunir en cuerpos casi completos: uno en su juventud temprana, el segundo en su virilidad temprana, el tercero más bien envejecido. Dos monedas, bracteates argentinos acuñados sólo por una cara, acompañaban lo anterior; uno, probablemente de los días de Philipp von Heinsberg, mostraba una iglesia, el otro mostraba una cruz, acompañado de la espada de mando a un lado, y del báculo obispal al otro.2
Nota: «Así como la moneda de Philipp en Hartzheim, coloniensis de nummariae de rei de historia, tabla 3 n.os 14, 16 (1754),3 pero sin inscripción; la otra (moneda) en forma cuadrada, con en el centro una cruz, acompañada de la espada de mando a un lado, y del báculo obispal al otro, también sin inscripción, ciertamente no es más reciente y podría ser quizá una moneda de Reinaldo [de Dassel]».4
Los huesos se envolvieron en seda blanca y fueron devueltos al relicario.
El relicario de los Reyes Magos tiene unas dimensiones aproximadas de 110 cm de ancho, 153 cm de alto, y 220 cm de largo. Los tres sarcófagos están superpuestos, tomando la forma de una especie de basílica: dos sarcófagos descansan pegados el uno al otro, y el tercer sarcófago descansa sobre las aristas superiores de los otros dos. Los laterales están completamente cubiertos, así que no hay espacio visible entre los sarcófagos. La estructura básica está hecha de madera, recubierta de oro y plata y decorada con filigranas, esmalte, y unas mil piedras preciosas. Estas últimas incluyen muchos camafeos y piezas grabadas, alguna aún precristiana.
Todo el relicario está envuelto con una elaborada cubierta decorativa. Hay 74 figuras en bajorrelieve de plata dorada en total, sin contar las figuras adicionales, más pequeñas, en la decoración del fondo. En los lados, las imágenes de profetas decoran la parte más baja, mientras que las imágenes de los apóstoles y evangelistas decoran la parte superior. Un extremo muestra (a través del fondo, de izquierda a derecha) imágenes de la Adoración de los Magos, María entronizada con el niño Jesús, y el Bautismo de Cristo, y arriba, Cristo entronizado en el Juicio Final. El otro extremo muestra las escenas de la Pasión: El Martirio de Cristo (abajo izquierda) y la Crucifixión (abajo izquierda), con Cristo resucitado arriba. Este extremo tiene asimismo un busto de Reinaldo de Dassel en el centro.
En la novela Baudolino (2000), Umberto Eco describe el descubrimiento y el donativo subsiguiente de las reliquias de Magos como un bulo del siglo xii perpetrado por el protagonista de la novela.
En la novela Mapa de huesos (2005), de James Rollins, el relicario contiene oro en estado monoatómico, producido por los Reyes Magos, en lugar de las santas reliquias.
En la novela Mercado de espejismos (2007) de Felipe Benítez Reyes, se describe irónicamente las aventuras de un grupo de traficantes de reliquias a las que se les dio como encargo el robo del relicario. La novel
The house is located outside Genoa's 14th-century walls. During the Renaissance, the area became subject to intense building, mainly consisting of public housing.[2]
Columbus was born in 1451, and historical documents indicated that Columbus lived here between approximately 1455 and 1470. At this time, the house had two or maybe three stories, with a shop on the ground floor, and the front door to the left of the shop.[2]
According to historian Marcello Staglieno, the original house was most likely destroyed in the French Bombardment of Genoa in 1684. It was rebuilt in the early 18th century on the basis of the original ruins.[3] The rebuilt structure had a height of five stories. However, the upper stories were built by placing their beams on the neighboring buildings. When the neighboring buildings were demolished around 1900, as part of the construction of Via XX Settembre, the upper stories of this building were removed, and it was reduced to its current height of two stories.[4]
Currently the building operates as a museum, under the management of the "Porta Soprana" Genovese cultural association. Its central location and nearby parking make it a popular meeting place for the Genovese.[2]
La casa se encuentra fuera de las murallas de Génova del siglo xiv. Durante el Renacimiento, la zona se convierte en una zona densamente construida, formada principalmente por viviendas abiertas al público.2
Colón nació en 1451 y los documentos históricos indicaban que Colón vivió, entre 1455 y 1470 aproximadamente, en la zona destruida por el bombardeo de 1864. En ese momento, la casa tenía dos o quizás tres pisos, con una tienda en la planta baja, y la puerta de entrada a la izquierda de la tienda.3
Según el historiador Marcello Staglieno, la casa original fue destruida durante el bombardeo francés de Génova en 1684. Fue reconstruida a principios del siglo xviii sobre las ruinas de la casa, que por la documentación coetánea, se consideró como la casa original y de la que quedaban sólo los cimientos.4 La estructura reconstruida tenía una altura de cinco pisos. Sin embargo, los pisos superiores se construyeron colocando sus vigas sobre los edificios vecinos. En el derribo de los edificios vecinos hacia el año 1900, en el marco de la construcción de la Vía XX Settembre, se retiraron los pisos superiores de este edificio, y se redujo a la altura actual de dos pisos.1
Actualmente el edificio funciona como museo, bajo la gestión de la asociación cultural genovesa "Porta Soprana". Su ubicación céntrica y el aparcamiento cercano le convierten en un lugar de encuentro popular entre los genoveses.2
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