Carl Schurz Statue

“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right,” were the famous words of Carl Schurz. Carl Schurz was the first German-born American to be elected to the United States Senate in 1869. He was an American statesman and reformer, a German revolutionary, and a Union Army General who fought in the American Civil War.

Schurz was also a well-known journalist, orator and newspaper editor. Margarethe Schurz and

Berthe von Ronge, Carl Schurz’s wife and sister respectively, were key in the establishment of the kindergarten system in the country. Because of his avoidance of political partisanship, his high principles and his moral conscience, Schurz became one of the most notable independents in American politics. Because of his many contributions to the nation, Schurz is memorialized in

several places in the United States.

One such place is the 14.9 acre Carl Schurz Park in New York which was named after him in 1910.

The park is beside Yorkville and overlooks Hell Gate. It is where Gracie Mansion, the residence of the Mayor of New York, sits. Statues and memorials of Karl Schurz can be found at Morningside Drive and 116th Street in New York and in Menominee Park in Oshkosh, Wisonsin.