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NEWSLETTER NUMBER TWELVE |
AUGUST 2005 |
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| Adolf
Cluss (1825-1905) From Germany to America: Shaping a Capital City Worthy of a Republic --an exhibition to enhance public understanding of the architect’s work in Washington during the Gilded Age by interpreting the impact of Cluss’s revolutionary roots and his social vision on the city’s architecture and life. Charles
Sumner School Museum, Washington DC, CHARLES SUMNER SCHOOL DETAIL:Sumner School roof - typical of 19th-century decoration PROJECT NEWS:The Washington side of the exhibition is gearing up for the September 15th opening - and in Heilbronn, things are even more frantic as their September 9th opening nears!
Countdown: Excerpts
from the Heilbronn Cluss-Team Journal
25 Days: Objects from the Sumner School in Washington arrive! The entire Cluss-Team assists with unpacking, marveling at the items appearing out of the bubble wrap. Look at this original brick from the Sumner School - perhaps Cluss held one of these in his hand? Oh no - the window arrives broken. How could that have happened? Now what? 24 Days: Appointment with Peer Friedel, Exhibition Designer. Finishing touches are made to the Cluss-Kubus boards - they will be printed this afternoon! Banners hanging from the ceiling and exhibit boards up to 1.5 x 2.5 meters will portray Cluss buildings as background motifs - impressive at this size! One is almost convinced that they are standing in front of the Calvary Baptist Church beside Mathew Brady with his camera… 23 Days: A call to the US-General Consulate in Frankfurt - General Counsel Peter W. Bodde is also coming to the opening! The designer of the self-guided tour needs twenty new scans by the end of the week - today will also be a long day… 22 Days: A professional glazier will take care of the unlucky window - we'll be able to display it - we're lucky! Today we packaged and sent out 1,500 flyers and posters. Now on to the press kits and speeches that are waiting… Adolf-Cluss-Exhibit
Heilbronn: Objects Arrive from the USA
Heilbronn sandstone is on its way in the other direction, traveling by sea from Obersulm near Heilbronn via Rotterdam to Fairview, New Jersey. These stones are to present to the visitors of the parallel exhibition at the Charles Sumner School in Washington not only an example of a typical building material of our region, but a chance to touch a piece of Heilbronn. The Heilbronn and Washington Teams Cluss have received support from the Obersulm firm of CD Cartondruck, who regularly makes deliveries to the USA and made space in their containers available for the transport. Heilbronn Opening The Adolf Cluss Exhibit in Heilbronn opens with flair on September 9th. Following a tour of the Historic Path in downtown Heilbronn, the Adolf Cluss Cube will be opened with an official ceremony. US-Generalconsul Peter W. Bodde, former German Foreign Minister Dr. Klaus Kinkel, and DC Council Member Sharon Ambrose will give remarks, followed by a joint presentation of the transatlantic Adolf Cluss Project by Bill Gilcher, Joe Browne (both Team Cluss-DC) and Peter Wanner (Team Cluss-Heilbronn). The event will culminate with Christhard Schrenk, Director of the Heilbronn City Archives, opening the Cluss-Cube to the public. Dinner at the WineVilla, once home to Adolf Cluss's sister, will wrap up the evening. OTHER NEWS:Eastern Market Commemoration
Watch for the unveiling of a plaque at Eastern Market on October 22 with Mayor Anthony A. Williams.
The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Cluss's death with a ceremony at Eastern Market on July 23rd generated a comprehensive article about the project in the Washington Post's District Weekly.
Artifacts from the Exhibition
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FEATURED BUILDING:Renovation of
the Smithsonian Castle
Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution (Richard E. Stamm, photographer) New Grant from The National Trust for Historic Preservation Friends of the Goethe-Institut Washington is happy to announce that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded FOGI a grant to support special publication about the history of preservation of Cluss buildings in Washington. Team Cluss member Tanya Edwards Beauchamp, well known among DC preservationists, will be spearheading this effort. Arrival of Book Copies of the English version of the Adolf Cluss book, Adolf Cluss: From Germany to America, have arrived in Washington. Email the Cluss Team to order your copy. Public Programs A number of public programs associated with the Adolf Cluss Exhibition Project will be happening around Washington between September 2005 and February 2006. View the listing of public programs or download the pdf of the brochure from our website. Cluss Interns at the City Archives Heilbronn Kate Pierce-McManamon graduated from the College of William and Mary this past May with a joint degree in History and Modern Languages (German). Her work at the Stadtarchiv in Heilbronn involves tasks such as assisting with translations, press releases, proofreading and planning the final phases of the Adolf Cluss Exhibition. Following her internship, Kate will remain in Germany on a Fulbright Student Research Scholarship, expanding her work on the historic preservation and representation of the Frauenkirche in Dresden. From Miriam Eberlein of the Stadtarchiv Heilbronn about the Cluss Interns Many thanks go to Sarah, Kate, and Ines, our German intern (see Cluss newsletter April 2005) for the enthusiasm they are bringing to this project. Many tasks, such as the media server, organization of events, and translations of texts into German or English would not have been accomplished without their assistance. We wish all three of them all the best and much success in their futures - based on their competence, motivation, and flexibility, we know we don't need to have any worries about their careers! Cluss Interns and Fellows in Washington, DC
From left to right: Joseph Tumas, Anna Tumas, Liam Tumas, Adolf Cluss, Inge Schlitzkus and Hans Schlitzkus
To join our mailing list and be kept informed about the progress of planning for the exhibition, please send your name, address, and email address to cluss@washington.goethe.org. Planning for the exhibition, slated to open in Washington and Heilbronn, Germany, Cluss's birthplace, in 2005, is a cooperative effort among many institutions in Washington and Heilbronn, Germany. Exhibition Contact: Project Director: About the exhibitions
in Germany and the USA: About Adolf Cluss: Cluss
Electronic Newsletters SUPPORT THE ADOLF CLUSS EXHIBITIONS AND RELATED PUBLIC EVENTS"Friends of the Goethe-Institut Washington" has set up a special account to receive tax-deductible donations in support of the Adolf Cluss Project. Send your check (payable to "Friends of the Goethe-Institut Washington") to: Friends of the Goethe-Institut
Washington |
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| To
join our mailing list and be kept informed about the progress of planning
for the exhibition, please send your name, address, and email address to
cluss@washington.goethe.org.
This project is made possible thanks to generous support from the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany, with funds from the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor (BMWA), the MARPAT Foundation, the Kiplinger Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, Edelman, Douglas Development Corporation, Wagner Roofing, Boston Properties, CD Cartondruck and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A cooperative project of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, Goethe-Institut Washington, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Architectural History and Historic Preservation and the Stadtarchiv Heilbronn. |
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26
Days: Meeting with the Mayor of Heilbronn - he gives the green light for
the opening program, hurray! The telephone at the desk of Ines, our event
organizer, rings constantly with calls regarding restaurant reservations,
hotel rooms, tours, cars, etc.
Swapping
sandstones for heating grate: only four weeks before the beginning of
the Adolf Cluss Exhibitions in Heilbronn and Washington DC, the transatlantic
project's two teams have provided one another with reciprocal exhibit
pieces. After making a trip of over 4,100 miles by air via the JFK Airport
in New York and the Frankfurt-Main Airport, the objects from the Charles
Sumner School in Washington, built by Cluss in 1871/72, arrived on Monday
at the Heilbronn City Archives. The objects included a wooden school desk,
a window frame designed by Cluss, and a stone rosette from the building
façade. A filigree cast iron heating grate and elements of the
cast iron roof adornments show how detail was used to create the elaborate
environment of the Sumner School, which was the first school in Washington
that enabled African-Americans to receive a high school education. The
exceptional loans are made available by the Charles Sumner School Museum
and Archives and will be on display in the exhibit "Adolf Cluss -
The 'Red' Architect" in the Cluss-Cube in front of the Heilbronn
City Hall. It will be the first time these objects, designed by Cluss,
can be seen outside of Washington, Cluss's adopted home.
The
City acknowledged Cluss's contributions to post-Civil War Washington in
a ceremony at Eastern Market on July 23rd. Against a background of artworks
by Eastern Market artists, DC Councilmember Sharon Ambrose announced
a Council Resolution honoring Cluss and his role in creating a lively
community market. After introductions by market manager Stuart Smith and
remarks by Project Director Joe Browne, Eastern Market vendor Mike Bowers
announced the Kids on the Hill Arts Project, inviting children from Washington
to submit their own drawings of the Market and what they like best about
it, which will be displayed during the Cluss exhibition at the Charles
Sumner School. For more information, write to 
Press
Coverage
Among
the many objects loaned by William S. and Donna Shacklette for use in
the Cluss Exhibition are several pieces of china originally owned by the
Adolf Cluss family. Two tureen lids identify the owner with the initials
"A.C." All of the pieces have painted rose designs meant to
honor Mrs. Rosa Cluss. 
These
pieces have remained in the Cluss family through three generations: Cluss's
daughter Lillian, Cluss's only grandchild, Beatrice, and William S. Shacklette,
one of only two great grand-children of Adolf and Rosa Cluss. The pieces
of Cluss china are among the 60 objects and artifacts that will appear
in the exhibition. 
It
is little known that Adolf Cluss did a great deal of work on the Smithsonian's
"Castle." After a damaging fire in December 1865, Adolf Cluss
was hired by the Institution's Building Committee to reconstruct the damaged
structure. Cluss came to the Smithsonian "warmly recommended"
by the Mayor of the District of Columbia for his work designing local
school buildings. He remained the primary architect for the Institution
until 1887. On the exterior, he was careful to remain remarkably faithful
to the building's original exterior appearance. On both the south and
the north towers, he reproduced the original appearance and such details
as belt courses, window jambs, pilasters, columns and buttresses. On the
interior, however, he introduced new structural systems designed to stiffen
the walls and to provide fireproof floors throughout. At his client's
urging, he introduced new spaces for office and for storage where the
original architect, James Renwick Jr., had designed lofty vaulting ceilings
in character with the medieval-revival façade. Cluss designed both
of the elaborate cast iron staircases still in the building in a style
combining reference to the medieval with later design influences. When
asked to reconstruct the west wing of the building to prevent the possibility
of fire, he used a modernized Romanesque style with elements of design
reform. The distinctive color scheme he envisioned for this space has
recently been partially restored. Cluss proved in his work at the "Castle"
that he was a dedicated historic preservationist on the exterior and a
modernist on the
interior. 
Sarah
Jane Dixon is a Junior at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign
Service, studying Culture and Politics of Central Europe with a concentration
in German and Art History. Her work on the Adolf Cluss Project has concerned
itself primarily with preparing content for the media server station in
the Adolf Cluss Cube, but she also works on translations, correspondence,
and public relations on a daily basis. In the future, Sarah plans to achieve
a Ph.D. in Art History and to ultimately work in the field of Museology.
Liam
Tumas has been an invaluable help to the project, doing extensive research
in the libraries and on the Internet. He's beginning his sophomore year
at George Washington University, majoring in international affairs. He's
excited to be working on the Cluss exhibition, and has a close family
connection to Heilbronn. His mother is originally from Heilbronn, where
his grandparents still live. This summer, the family came to Washington
to visit Adolf.
Intern
Sandra Supplieth and Cluss Fellows Verena Herrmann and Manuel Carrera
have arrived from Germany to assist with final design preparations, public
outreach, and technological communications between Heilbronn and Washington
for the project. Their presence reminds us how close the opening is. A
warm welcome to all of them!