Adolphus Busch Hall
Address29, Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number475
Alternate Names
Adolphus Busch Hall Gunzberg Center for European Studies
Building Root Number
00107
Architect (Original)
German Bestelmeyer
Architect (Original)
Warren & Smith Architects
Land Acquired
1896
Building Acquired 1917
Constructed 1917
Building Acquired 1917
Constructed 1917
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named for Adolphus Busch (1839-1913), the German-born co-founder of brewing company Anheuser Busch whose gift for the building and endowment for maintenance were supplemented by his widow Elise or "Lilly" after his death and again in 1949 by a gift from his daughter Edmee Busch Reisinger Greenough. With the gift the Germanic Museum was renamed the Busch-Reisinger.Historical NotesAdolphus Busch Hall was originally designed to house Harvard’s Germanic Museum. The museum, which was dedicated in 1903, had been housed in Rogers Hall. Adolphus Busch Hall, built on the site of Houghton House, was designed by architect German Bestelmeyer of Dresden, Germany, who was selected for the project by Adolphus Busch. Bestelmeyer was a noted German architect who designed many of the buildings at the university in Munich. Harvard professor H. Langford Warren initially collaborated on the project but due to World War I the final design and construction was completed by his architecture firm Warren and Smith. The building was completed in 1917 but did not open to the public until 1921.
Today it houses the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard.
Additional Information
Adolphus Busch Hall
Kuhn Hall
Renaissance Hall
“The New Germanic Museum (Adolphus Busch Hall) at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.” Architectural Review (Boston), vol. 18, no. s, Jan. 1912.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
Harvard University Archives. General Information by and about the Harvard Art Museum. Harvard University Archives HUF 861.1000.2 and HUF 861.1000.2 pf
Goldman, Guido G. A History of the Germanic Museum at Harvard University. Cambridge, MA: Minda De Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard U, 1989. Print. HOLLIS number 001921307
Francke, Kuno. The New Building of the Germanic Museum: Harvard University. New York: Architectural Forum, 1928. Print. HOLLIS number 008503388
“Cloister of Germanic Museum Now Library.” The Harvard Crimson, 3 Oct. 1935, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1935/10/3/cloister-of-germanic-museum-now-library/.
Harvard University Archives. General Information by and about Adolphus Busch Hall. Harvard University Archives HUB 1421.2
Associated Harvard Clubs, and Harvard Alumni Association. Harvard Alumni Bulletin. Cambridge, Mass.: Published by the Harvard Bulletin, Inc. for the Harvard Alumni Association, 19101969
"Work on New Germanic Museum Going on Rapidly." The Harvard Crimson, 7 Oct. 1915, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1915/10/7/work-on-new-germanic-museum-going/.
"New Germanic Museum." Cambridge Chronicle, 1 June 1912, p. 13.
Lenger, John. "Busch-Reisinger Marks a Century." Harvard Gazette, Nov. 2003, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/11/busch-reisinger-marks-a-century/.
"Plans for Museum. Germanic Building at Harvard Will Be a Model One - Plans by Fatherland’s Leading Architects." Cambridge Tribune, 14 Oct. 1911, p. 9.
"Proposed German Museum." The Harvard Crimson, 24 Nov. 1899, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1899/11/24/proposed-german-museum-pabout-2000-has/.
"Germanic Museum. Professor Kuno Francke, in Harvard Graduates’ Magazine, Writes of the Proposed Building." Cambridge Tribune, 17 June 1911, p. 10.
"Germanic Museum to Open Today." The Harvard Crimson, 23 Feb. 1921, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1921/2/23/germanic-museum-to-open-today-pthe/.
Goldman, Guido. An Iconography of Adolphus Busch Hall. Harvard University, 1989. Harvard University Archives HUF 373.589.41 A
"Museum Assured. Germanic Department at Harvard Will Profit by the Generosity of Adolphus Bush - His Gifts." Cambridge Tribune, 21 Jan. 1911, p. 3.
"Germanic Museum Opens." The Harvard Crimson, 26 Feb. 1921, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1921/2/26/germanic-museum-opens-pthe-germanic-museum/.
"Germanic Museum Plans." The Harvard Crimson, 9 June 1911, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1911/6/9/germanic-museum-plans-pthe-plans-for/.
Harvard University. Art Museums. Photographs of the Harvard Art Museum. 1927-2001. (1927). Harvard University Art Museum Archives call number HC 22
Busch-Reisinger Museum. Records, 1819-2011. (1819). Harvard Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum collection call number BRM
"Erection of New Germanic Museum." The Harvard Crimson, 29 Apr. 1910, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1910/4/29/erection-of-new-germanic-museum-pthrough/.
"Germanic Museum Finished." The Harvard Crimson, 22 Sept. 1916, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1916/9/22/germanic-museum-finished-pthe-finishing-touches/.
"Corner Stone Laid. Interesting Exercises on Site of the New Germanic Museum - German Ambassador Present." Cambridge Tribune, 15 June 1912, p. 1.
"Erection of Brunswick Bronze." The Harvard Crimson, 2 Dec. 1913, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1913/12/2/erection-of-brunswick-bronze-pa-replica/.
Weber, Paul J. Photographs of Harvard University Buildings and Grounds Taken by Paul J. Weber, Ca. 1929-1931 and 1939. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 2329
“The New German Museum at Harvard.” Boston Evening Transcript, 6 Oct. 1911, p. 12.
“Gift from Germany. Harvard Receives Replica of the Lion of Brunswick, Erected by Duke Henry of Saxony in 1166.” Boston Globe, 3 Dec. 1913, p. 9.
“Brunswick Lion Has New Home.” Boston Post, 11 Sept. 1916, p. 2.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.