Adolphus Busch Hall facts for kids
Adolphus Busch Hall is a special building at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is named after a very generous person named Adolphus Busch. He was a famous brewer and helped start the Anheuser-Busch company. Mr. Busch gave a lot of money, $265,000, to help build this hall.
A Home for German Art
The hall was designed by an architect named German Bestelmeyer. It was built to be Harvard's Germanic Museum. Construction started in 1912 when the first stone was laid. The building was finished in 1917. However, it did not open to the public until 1921.
The Busch-Reisinger Museum
The Germanic Museum later became known as the Busch-Reisinger Museum. This museum is very unique. It is the only museum in North America that focuses on art from German-speaking countries. These countries are in Central and Northern Europe.
The Busch-Reisinger Museum was located in Adolphus Busch Hall from 1921 until 1991. Even though the main museum moved, Adolphus Busch Hall still keeps some important things. It houses the museum's first collection of medieval plaster casts. These are copies of old sculptures. The hall also has an exhibit about the history of the museum itself.
Music and More
Adolphus Busch Hall is also a place for music. It has a special Flentrop pipe organ. This organ became very famous because of an organist named E. Power Biggs. He used to record and broadcast his music from here.
The hall is also home to Harvard's Minda de Gunzberg Center for European Studies. This center helps people learn more about Europe. In the courtyard of the hall, you can find a copy of the Brunswick Lion. This is a famous statue of a lion.
