Julius Theodore Melchers
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor and teacher who immigrated to the United States leaving Prussia after 1848 and resided in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
after 1855 . During the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, he became a "sculptor of great renown in the Detroit area." The Julius T. Melchers House (1897) by Donaldson and Meier
Donaldson and Meier
Donaldson and Meier was an architectural firm based in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1880 by John Donaldson and Henry J. Meier the firm produced a large and varied number of commissions in Detroit and southeastern Michigan...
is located at 723 Seyburn, in the Indian Village Historic District on which Julius carved the ornate gable. The likelihood that Melchers left Europe, as did so many other in and after the turbulent year of 1848 for political reasons is somewhat supported that he named his son (called, "Gari") after the famous Italian patriot and revolutionary Garibaldi.
Birth and emigration
Julius Theodore Melchers, was born in SoestSoest, Germany
Soest is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district. After Lippstadt, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.-Geography:...
, Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
At age fifteen, while still in Prussia, Julius T. Melchers studied carving then studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris with Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was a French sculptor and painter.Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1844 and won the Prix de Rome in 1854, and moving to Rome to find inspiration, he there studied the works of...
and Étex
Antoine Étex
Antoine Étex was a French sculptor, painter and architect. He was born in Paris.He first exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1833, his work including a reproduction in marble of his "Death of Hyacinthus", and the plaster cast of his "Cain and his race cursed by God"...
.
Before moving to the United States he worked as a modeler at the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
in London as well as carving ships figurehead
Figurehead
A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...
s.
Children
He had at least two children: one was Hettie Melchers, who married Julius Stroh of the Stroh brewing familyStroh Brewery Company
The Stroh Brewery Company was a beer brewery located in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to their own Stroh's brand, they produced or bought the rights to several other brands including Goebel, Schaefer, Schlitz, Augsburger, Erlanger, Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, Red River, and Signature, as well as...
in June 1883. The couple lived in an Italianate mansion on E. Jefferson Ave across from Van Dyke. His son, Gari Melchers
Gari Melchers
Julius Garibaldi Melchers was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of naturalism.-Biography:...
, born in 1860, was an artist.
Stroh Brewing Company
Julius T. Melchers served as Vice President of B. Stroh Brewing Company.According to Nawrocki and Holleman, Julius T. Melchers was Detroit's first sculptor. Bela Hubbard
Bela Hubbard
Bela Hubbard was a 19th century naturalist, geologist, writer, surveyor, explorer and civic leader of early Detroit, Michigan. Hubbard is noted as one of the pioneer geologists of Michigan starting with expeditions undertaken, while in his twenties, with Michigan's geologist Douglass Houghton...
(1814-1896), a lumber baron and real estate mogul, commissioned Julius T. Melchers to carve the "larger than life" sandstone statues of Detroit's four French pioneers, Fr. Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
, Sieur de LaSalle, Antoine Cadillac, and Fr. Gabriel Richard
Gabriel Richard
Father Gabriel Richard was a French Roman Catholic priest who became a Delegate from Michigan Territory to the U.S. House of Representatives....
installed in 1874 on the old Detroit City Hall
Detroit City Hall
The former Detroit City Hall once stood at the site of the One Kennedy Square building in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The former city hall building was constructed in 1861, and finished in 1871. It was demolished in 1961. It stood at 5 stories in height, 4 above-ground, and one basement floor. It...
(1871). Architect John M. Donaldson had created the model Melchers had used for the statue of Marquette. When the old Detroit City Hall
Detroit City Hall
The former Detroit City Hall once stood at the site of the One Kennedy Square building in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The former city hall building was constructed in 1861, and finished in 1871. It was demolished in 1961. It stood at 5 stories in height, 4 above-ground, and one basement floor. It...
was demolished in 1961 the statues were saved and moved to the campus of Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
.