October 2024.
Schiller Park is probably my favorite place in all of Columbus. Sure, it’s located in one of Columbus’s trendiest neighborhoods and constantly recommended by every TikTok influencer who lives here, but it really is the best park in the city. This is gonna be a much more personal one than usual, as a result.
Schiller Park is located at 1069 Jaeger Street in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Reinhard Avenue to the north, Deshler Avenue to the south, Jaeger Street to the east, and City Park Avenue and Stewart Alternative Elementary School to the west.
History
Before the establishment of Schiller Park, the land was owned by Francis Stewart and known as “Stewart’s Grove.” At that time, the southern limit of Columbus was Kossuth Street, so it was outside of city limits. Stewart and other German Village residents used it for local festivals, as well as two Ohio State Fairs (1864 and 1865).
An engraving of the park. (WOSU)
In 1866, David Deshler, his son William Deshler, and Allen Thurman acquired the site and intended to open a park there. The city of Columbus purchased it from the Deshlers and Thurman in April 1867 for $15,000, opening it as “City Park” shortly afterwards. It is the second-oldest park in the city, after Goodale Park, which opened in 1852. Early landscaping work on the park included building a fountain and excavating the park’s lake. In the 1870s, the park had a zoo with an eagle, buffalo, bears, and foxes, which lasted until the early 20th century.
1898 engraving of the Schiller statue. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The statue of Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller that stands prominently on the western end of the park was installed on July 4, 1891, during an Independence Day celebration. Germans considered Independence Day to be significant to them as well, as they had similar reasons to come to the United States as the country did declaring independence. The statue is a casting of an 1863 statue in Munich. Schiller was a poet and playwright who lived in late 18th-century Germany. In 1905, the park was renamed “Schiller Park” by City Council.
Historic photo of the boathouse and lake. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
With the outbreak of World War I and widespread anti-German sentiment in America, Schiller Park was once again renamed to “Washington Park” in 1918, as were certain streets (such as Germania Street becoming Stewart Avenue). It returned to the Schiller Park name in 1930.
Along with German Village, Schiller Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The park was restored by various local organizations in 1988.
Huntington Gardens, the strip of gardens that leads up to the Schiller statue from City Park Avenue, was added in 1993. In 1996, the current Umbrella Girl statue was installed, which replaced an 1872 statue of the goddess Hebe (which eventually had a similar umbrella) that was stolen in the 1950s. The sculptor, Joan Wobst, modeled the current incarnation after her daughter Andi. Finally, the suspended sculptures seen across the park today were originally a traveling exhibit from 2019 by sculptor Jerzy Kedziora, but due to their popularity with residents, enough money was raised to permanently install them in the park.
Photos
These first two photos are from my cell phone and date to the period I refer to below.
Before I begin with discussing the park itself, I want to reflect a little on its significance to me. I visited it frequently in the summer of 2023, where I used it as a place to disconnect and enjoy the beauty of nature while going through the stress of trying out for TBDBITL. At that time, I had just recently broken up with an ex-girlfriend (which was also my first relationship), and the walking and people-watching helped take my mind off things. As a result, I’ve viewed it ever since as a hopeful, yet melancholy, place. I haven’t revisited much since, but when I do, it brings up both pleasant and moody memories.
When I visited to get pictures for the blog in the autumn of 2024 (I remember the following because I took notes), it was unseasonably warm that day. Fall is my favorite season and I have always enjoyed a chill in the October air, but a warm day is always welcome in my book. It was also very windy, and many of the trees were shedding vibrantly colored leaves onto the ground. I remember wishing I had a way to do a longer exposure of the leaves twirling through the air. Along with the weather-related ambience, there were children playing at Stewart Alternative Elementary across the street, and I could hear their laughter as I meandered through the park.
The southwest entrance, where I typically started my walks (a habit from the first time I visited):
Note the German greeting on the sign.
This was also my favorite time of fall as well--when the leaves have turned, but not yet fallen from the boughs:
Early fall just feels like an extension of summer, and after all the leaves fall it just feels 90% of the way to winter (since it doesn’t snow much anymore). I never thought The Giver would be such a prescient book with our inevitable future--if I have children, they may never know the insulating feeling of a snowfall after dark, or its frigidity to the touch. Fall, however, seems like it’s here to stay.
The lake, and two of its sculptures:
These are Concordia and Elation, named after Johann von Schiller’s poem Song of the Bell. They are a fitting tribute to Schiller and match the more whimsical nature of the park.
The other sculpture suspended above the water, which is The Rower:
The oars are functional and mimic a rowing motion as the wind blows.
The rear:
The other end of the lake has a majestic fountain:
A view from the opposite end--love the difference between the conifers above versus the deciduous trees here:
This Beaux-Arts stage, with ivy overflowing across its entablature, is used by the Actors’ Theatre. They perform weekly plays in the evenings, usually of a Shakespeare play or something similar.
Schiller Park is extremely popular with German Village/Schumacher Place residents (and even fools like me driving down from the University District). Dogs, picnickers, and children playing are a very common sight:
I never got quite good at identifying my tree species. I know the one on the left is some kind of oak, but the others have me lost:
Honestly, the only trees I could probably reliably identify are oaks, maples, birches, ginkgos, and honey locusts. Maybe cherry trees if they’re blooming. Can you tell I’m not a landscape architect?
More beautiful autumn leaves in vibrant golds and oranges:
This maple tree in particular was rapidly shedding leaves:
Looking north up 3rd Street from the northern entrance:
I see Rhodes Tower and St. Mary’s spire in the background:
Here is Umbrella Girl, still shielded from the rain:
The surrounding garden is dedicated in honor of a German Village resident:
Can’t get enough of the natural beauty here.
Not the greatest photo, but here’s the western entrance:
Looking east at the Schiller statue from the gardens:
Lots of lovely hedges, flowers, and bushes. Very English garden-like and meandering, though its axial nature could be more French-inspired.
The brick sidewalk is dotted with quotes from various authors. I snapped several photos of ones that I found humorous or relevant:
Lotta stupid people in the world today.
Schiller gazes nobly westward from his plinth, holding a laurel wreath:
There is a quaint cottage on the west side of the park. It was built in the 1930s by the WPA for the caretaker.
Very picturesque and Tudor Revival--it matches the park’s character.
There was a gentleman painting outside of it that day:
The recreation center on the southeast end:
The gym apparently dates to 1962, but most of the rest seems more Postmodern, maybe from 1988 when the park was restored.
Southeast entrance, which is intended for cars:
Definitely a trip going back through these photos, which are almost two years old now. I think they’re of reasonable quality for how new I was to taking pictures at the time, but my approach has definitely changed. Anyways, no trip to Schiller Park was complete for me without looking at the houses, so let’s do that next.
Sources:
Ohio Historical Marker on-site
Columbus Neighborhoods by Tom Betti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrRgPFbEAkg
https://germanvillage.com/history/
https://columbusrecparks.com/parks/schiller-park/
https://germanvillage.com/businesses/schiller-park/
https://columbusunderground.com/see-the-suspended-sculptures-now-permanent-in-schiller-park-ae1/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/11920/rec/5
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/15093/rec/13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiller_Park_(Columbus,_Ohio)
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