Ottendorfer Library
- Architect
- J. William Schickel
- Year
- 1884
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- Manhattan, NY
The Ottendorfer Library, at 135 Second Avenue, was built in 1883-84 as part of a pair with the neighboring Stuyvesant Polyclinic hospital, funded by a donation from philanthropists Oswald and Anna Ottendorfer. Designed by German-born architect William Schickel in the neo-Italian Renaissance style, it became the second branch of the New York Free Circulating Library and served the Little Germany enclave of the Lower East Side.
the building
Terracotta busts next door. The paired hospital building features terracotta busts of notable medical professionals, part of the Philadelphia pressed-brick and terracotta facade shared by both structures.
the style
The Renaissance Revival design, rendered in brick with terracotta ornament, tied the library and hospital together as a matched civic pair serving the German immigrant community of the neighborhood.
More on Renaissance Revivalthe architect
William Schickel, a German-born architect, designed both the library and the adjoining hospital building together.
significance
Both buildings are designated a New York City Landmark and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the library still operates as the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library.
nearby
- Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital
- Saint Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church
- Hamilton Fish House
- Metropolitan Savings Bank
- St. George's Church
- United States Post Office Cooper Station