Born in Germany, he is known to have traveled to the United States and North Africa. Schurz was a lawyer, a speech writer for Lincoln, a newspaper publisher, a general in the Civil War, a Senator, and a Cabinet member. One can assume that Cronau and Schurz were very good friends and that Schurz may possibly have been a guiding principal behind this series. Whatever the inspiration, these are unusual, first-hand images of the United States rarely seen. A very ambitious and rare set of views of the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
All images are actually in sepia tones.
View of Park Place near the Post Office and Tribune Building.