German American
Heritage Society
St. Louis - Tower
Grove Park Director, John Karel (left), was honored with the 2009 Carl Schurz
Heritage Award on Saturday, September 26 at the German American Heritage
Society (GAHS) of Saint Louis ’ “A Taste of Germany” Benefit Dinner and Auction
held at Westborough Country Club in Kirkwood, Missouri.
The GAHS award was named for the famous 19th century German
immigrant who served as a Civil War general, newspaper publisher,
As the Tower Grove Park Director since 1987 and an active GAHS member since 1997, John Karel has been instrumental in involving the Society, as well as other German American organizations, in special projects that help recognize, restore and preserve historic German statuary and works of art.
In 2004, he invited GAHS to participate in an initiative to restore and relocate a bronze statue of Prussian General Friedrich von Steuben, who helped General George Washington formally train the Continental Army in the art of war during the American Revolution. The restored statue of a standing von Steuben, complete with sword, now commands a private courtyard off the east side of the Palm House.
In 2005, he also helped lead a GAHS initiative to help
restore two, life-size, German-cast, zinc statues of stags by the famous 19th
century sculptor, Christian Rauch, which guard the north entrance of
Every year, Karel hosts the German-American community at the
annual birthday celebration of the world famous German naturalist and explorer,
Alexander von Humboldt at the larger than life, bronze statue to the east of
the traffic circle in
The GAHS is a self-funding, not-for-profit organization that
provides both annual and periodic grants to selected area German cultural
programs and organizations including: The University of Missouri-St. Louis
(UMSL) German Culture Center, Student Study
Abroad Programs at UMSL and Webster University, the Missouri Deutschheim, the
St. Louis Strassenfest German Garden in the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the
restoration of German landmarks in Tower Grove Park, as well as others in the
St. Louis area, the German School Association of Greater St. Louis, and
co-sponsorship of the German Special Interest Group in cooperation with the St.
Louis Genealogical Society.
The GAHS
is actively involved in exploring and preserving German heritage with other
German American organizations in the