Chicago, also known as the Garden City, rightfully deserves this term. There are, probably, few cities in our country possessing more parks and boulevards than does our city. However, it is not the purpose of this article to speak of their number and describe their beauty in landscape-architecture, but rather to relate of the monuments decorating them, and, specifically, of those which are dedicated to the German genius.

First of all, there is the beautiful Lincoln Park situated in the northern part of Chicago, which, among its many other monuments, numbers four which have been erected by German-American organizations and private persons in honor of the great minds of their old fatherland. At the formerly northern end of this park--the park now reaching several miles farther to the north--we find the site of the magnificent Goethe monument, a work of Prof. Hermann Hahn of Munich. The artist, symbolically, expressed the Hellenic thought in his creation. The 2deep, free calm of the Olympian enwraps the vigorous figure of young manhood. These eyes behold other visions than those we mortals are capable of perceiving. The flight of thought of the genius is symbolized by the eagle resting on the knee of the statue. The sculptor, presumably, thus intimated that, as solitude surrounds the eagle in his eyrie dwelling, so genius pays toll to his fellowmen by loneliness in the realms of lofty thought. An inscription at the base of the monument reads: "To Goethe, the Master mind of the German People. The Germans of Chicago." The back of a stone bench en-circling the monument shows the head of Goethe flanked on both sides by quotations from the works of the poet.

Opinions differ regarding the artistic value of the Goethe monument, inasmuch as the critics of this fine work of art do not approve of symbolism, but rather would have preferred a statue impersonating the poet. How did the Romans say? De gustibus non est disputantum!

The dedication of the Goethe monument occurred on June 13, 1914, a month before the outbreak of the World War. The celebration was a memorable one. Not only all organized Germans of Chicago, but also other American citizens participated, notably representatives of academic circles. The former German ambassador, Count von Bernstorff, the erstwhile governor of Illinois, Hon. Edward F. Dunne, and Carter H. Harrison, Chicago's mayor at that time, in weighty speeches paid tribute to Goethe, the great German, while Prof. William Herbert Carrut, of the Leland Stanford University of California, spoke inspiringly of the genius of the immortal poet. The day of the dedication of the Goethe monument closed in the evening with a celebration at the Auditorium Theater attended by distinguished citizens and notable artists.

Decades before this event, the monument of Germany's most beloved poet, Friedrich von Schiller, was given an ideal place in Lincoln Park. In a niche of 4tall trees, overlooking the floral display of the park's horticultural section, we face the Schiller monument, presented to our city on May 15, 1886, by the Schwabenverein of Chicago. Its unveiling had been set for May 9, being the anniversary of the poet's death, but because of the great excitement among the people of Chicago on account of the Haymarket event, this date was changed. Then, when the 15 of May had arrived, the Germans of Chicago and suburbs, in spite of the continuous downpour of rain, started on their pilgrimage of paying homage to the memory of their favorite poet. Patiently, the masses remained for hours, under umbrellas, before the unveiled monument of "Des Dichters des Liedes von der Glocke," devotedly listening to the enthusiastic words of the speakers, and the songs of their homeland rendered by German singing societies during the solemn occasion. This day, indeed, was a momentous one for the Germans of Chicago, since the Schiller monument was the first one, erected in Chicago in honor of a German. Already in 1880, the "Schwabenverein" of Chicago started a movement for the erection of a Schiller monument, but it was only after four years had passed that a committee was chosen for this purpose.

The Chicago Schiller monument, a work of Wilhemn Pelargus, of Stuttgart, represents a replica of the one dedicated to the poet at Marbach which, by itself, is a copy of the bust modeled from life by the renowned sculptor Dannecker.

To the north of the Schiller monument, at the edge of a secluded path, almost hidden by shrubberies, rests, upon a granite base, a bronze bust of Beethoven. Johannes Gelert, the artist who designed this Beethoven head, created a masterpiece by his work. With rare comprehension he modeled upon the features of this loneliest among the lonely titans, the mental anguish and sufferings he endured. Lines of pain and sorrow furrow this powerful countenance, love and defiance, courage and hope, serenity and sublimity also left their mark upon it.

(Incomplete Sample)