Albert Jaegers (March 28, 1868 – July 22, 1925) was an American sculptor.

Life

Jaegers was born on March 28, 1868, in Elberfeld, Germany. He moved with his family to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, as a boy. He apprenticed to his father as a wood carver, then studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy, and later in London, Paris, and Rome.''New York Times''
"Albert Jaeger, Sculptor, Dies," July 23, 1925
accessed June 22, 2012 In 1890, he married Matilda Holdt and launched his career as a sculptor. He won competitions sponsored by the National Sculpture Society. He exhibited at the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood ...

(1901) and

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

(1904). For the latter he was commissioned to create the statue representing Arkansas. In 1906 he won the commission for the Steuben Monument in Washington, D.C., on the basis of the endorsement of his work at an early stage of the competition by

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he tra ...

. His bronze sculptures included an eleven-foot-high figure of the military leader set atop a granite pedestal almost 20 feet high. Alongside the pedestal are two groups. In the one called "Commemoration," a seated female figure, unclothed above the waist, represents America instructing a small child from a scroll he holds up to her as he kneels at her feet. In the other, "Military Instruction," a seated adult soldier, naked but for an elaborate helmet, "in the prime of life," holds an empty scabbard in one hand. With his other hand, as if providing instruction, he points to his unsheathed sword, held by the naked young man at his side. When the U.S. government selected sculptors to create figures for the U.S. Custom House in New York City, each of which was to represent an historic seafaring power, Jaegers won the commission to create the one for Germany, which he planned as "an armed female figure, leaning on an antique shield, inscribed 'Kiel.'" Following the U.S. declaration of war on Germany in 1917, Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo asked him to modify it to represent Belgium, a U.S. ally in World War I. Jaegers refused to alter it, but the sculpture was modified over his objections. He said his work could not be seriously modified with "a little camouflage with a relabel" and called the change of name "a somewhat dubious honor for plucky little Belgium." His sculptures of German-American historical figures were sometimes targeted when the U.S. and Germany were at war. The dedication of his figure of Monsignor Anthony Stein met with protest and threats of violence. The dedication of his statue of

Francis Daniel Pastorius Francis Daniel Pastorius (September 26, 1651) was a German born educator, lawyer, poet, and public official. He was the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the first permanent German-American settlement and the gatewa ...

, the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, was delayed until after the end of World War I, and it was later removed from view during World War II. In 1918 he contributed a small sculpture called "The Grenade Thrower" to a show of patriotic and war-related pieces. Jaegers was a member of the National Sculpture Society and the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. He was the brother of sculptor Augustine Jaegers (1878 – 1952), whose career paralleled his. He lived on

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He died from heart disease on July 22, 1925, in

Suffern, New York Suffern is a village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Suffern is located 31 miles northwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 census, Suffern's population was 10,723.Henry W. Maxwell Memorial,

Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It consists of concentric oval rings arranged as s ...

, Brooklyn, New York (assisted Augustus Saint-Gaudens with this work) * 1904 – "Egyptian Art", cornice – north entrance of St. Louis Art Museum, and other work for the

, St. Louis, Missouri * 1907 – "Belgium" (originally entitled "Germany"), cornice figure, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York City * 1910 – '' Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben'' Monument – Lafayette Park,

President's Park President's Park, located in Downtown Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House and includes the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building, and grounds; the White House Visitor Center; Lafayette Square; and The Ellipse. ...

, Washington D.C. * 1913 –

Joseph G. Cannon Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and many consi ...

statue –

Cannon House Office Building The Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building," completed in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building as well as a significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. It occupies a site south of t ...

(part of Capitol complex), Washington D.C. * 1915 – friezes at the ''Court of Seasons'', Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California (razed)Ben Macomber, ''The Jewel City: its Planning and Achievement...'' (San Francisco: John H. Williams, 1915), 76, 196, ooks.google.com/books?id=ib5jAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196& available online accessed June 22, 2012 * 1917 –

Monument – Vernon Park, Philadelphia * 1923 – Monsignor Anthony Stein statue – St. Joseph's School,

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital city of Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the office of the Attorney General and the office ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

* 1925 – Henry Tureman Allen Memorial –

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whipple, ...

Arlington, VA Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Theodore Timby Theodore Ruggles Timby (5 April 1819 – 9 November 1909) is credited as the inventor of the revolving gun turret that was used on the USS ''Monitor'', the ironclad warship that fought in the American Civil War. He was born in Dutchess County, ...

statue – Location unknown * Friedrich von Steuben monument –

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...

, Germany * Friedrich von Steuben monument –

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

, Germany

References

External links

Pastorius Monument page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaegers, Albert 1869 births 1925 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors 19th-century American male artists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters