Ferdinand Miller, from 1875 von Miller and from 1912 Freiherr von Miller (8 June 1842 – 18 December 1929) was an ore caster, sculptor and director of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München).[1] He also held a seat in the Royal Bavarian House of Lords, the Reichsrat.[2]
Miller was born and died in Munich. He was the son of the artisan and First Inspector of the Royal Munich brass foundry, Ferdinand von Miller (1813–1887), and Anna Pösl (1815–1890).[3] With the elevation of his father Ferdinand into the Bavarian nobility on 12 October 1875 and with the inscription of the family name on the roll of the aristocracy of the Kingdom of Bavaria on 30 December 1875, Ferdinand was simultaneously ennobled.[3] Ferdinand's younger brother was the engineer and founder of the Deutsches MuseumOskar von Miller.[3]
Miller received his initial training from his father at the Royal Munich brass foundry. He continued his studies in Paris, London and finally in Dresden with Ernst Julius Hähnel. Afterwards he undertook several study trips to Italy and the US. He created about 70 statues and monuments.[1]
From 1900 to 1918 he was director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He was member of the Reichsrat (the House of Lords) of the Kingdom of Bavaria (the second chamber) and the Municipal council of Munich.
In 1884 von Miller acquired Karneid Castle, a 13th-century Tyrolean castle near the town of Bolzano, from his sister-in-law Ida, who had inherited it from her father Carl Mayer von Mayerfels. Miller embarked on an extensive restoration project, making the structure habitable again after 200 years of neglect. After being expropriated after the 1st & 2nd World Wars, the property is today owned by Miller's direct descendants.
^Clubbe, John, ‘‘Cincinnati Observed: Architecture and History‘‘, Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH, 1992 p. 13
^Andreas W. Daum, “Celebrating Humanism in St. Louis: The Origins of the Humboldt Statue in Tower Grove Park, 1859-1878,” in Gateway Heritage: Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society (Fall 1994), 48‒58; ibid., “Nation, Naturforschung und Monument: Humboldt-Denkmäler in Deutschland und den USA,” in Die Kunst der Geschichte: Historiographie, Ästhetik, Erzählung, hg. v. Martin Baumeister, Moritz Föllmer, and Philipp Müller. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009, 99‒124.
^ abMcCue, George, Photographs by David Finn and Amy Binder, ’’Sculpture City: St. Louis, Sculpture in the “Gateway to the West”’’ Hudson Hills Press NY and Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, 1988 pp. 42–45
^The bronze standing figure is signed "[F. v]on Miller fec. München 1892"; was erected and dedicated in Reservoir Square, now Bryant Park, in 1894. It was moved to Central Park in 1934 (Text of historical sign).
