Como Park To Re-Dedicate Schiller Sculpture

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — St. Paul's Como Park holds a re-dedication ceremony Saturday for its restored sculpture of the German philosopher and poet Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller.

For 105 years, the Schiller sculpture has presided over the gateway to Como Park. St. Paul's German-American community commissioned the work from artist Ignatius Taschner and gave it to the city in 1907.

The sculpture has been restored by Public Art St. Paul. The bronze metal was pitted and deteriorating, and the surface was streaked with corrosion. The sculpture also had accumulated decades of graffiti and carving.

In 2012, conservator Kristin Cheronis was engaged to restore the sculpture. She worked on site at Como Park August through October.

The re-dedication will feature a Minnesota Chorale performance of "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

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