World's Columbian Exposition: International Participation

Introduction

International participation was vital to the very concept of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Like all other world’s fairs, the Chicago 1893 fair strove to create a venue that brought together different cultures, ideas, and innovations of various disparate nations in one central location.

To some degree, international participation served an economic purpose; foreign countries could display their products and inventions to the global community in the hopes of raising commercial interest. On another level, however, the aims of the international exhibitions at the fair were purely cultural and educational; each country saw the world’s fair as a chance to present their unique national identity and background.

Many countries at the fair were thus given the opportunity to design, not just their own expositions, but their own buildings. There were 18 foreign buildings at the fair, and much was said about each nation through the mere architecture of their structures. The fair overseers encouraged foreign nations to display the culture of their countries through the design of their buildings, while they remained adamant that the main part of the fair stayed within the strict Classical Renaissance architecture that had been approved. The result was that the foreign buildings of the fair, with their distinct and fragmented styles, stood out from the White City itself and drew attention to the unique nations they represented.

The Krupp Pavilion

The German Building was one particularly fascinating international exhibition at the fair. German immigrants during this period made up an enormous percentage of the American population. In 1893, New York and Chicago exceeded every city but Berlin in size of their German born inhabitants. As a result, any form of German participation in the fair garnered interest from the public. Germany contributed several displays to the main buildings of the fair; they had items in the Manufactures building as well as in the Technology and Machinery buildings. The crowning glory, however, of German participation was the Krupp Pavilion, a 1.5 million dollar structure, which displayed Germany as a powerful and advanced militaristic nation.

The exterior architecture of the Krupp Gun Pavilion was striking because of the materials it used; in designing the building, German architects decided to use timber and steel rather than the white plaster used for the majority of buildings in the White City. The style of the building was also unique; historical and regional forms were mixed so that the building as a whole embodied the entire German aesthetic. The bell tower and steeply sloped balustrades were reminiscent of German village style, while the painted national emblems on the outer wall spoke to the grandiose government taste of the time.

Tools of War

While the exterior architecture of the building was certainly impactful, the most noted aspect of the Krupp Gun Pavilion was by far its interior gun exhibition. The Pavilion was funded by the Fried Krupp cast steel company,  a German company widely known for their production of ammunition and armaments. The Krupp Company was the largest employer and Germany, with 45,000 employees, and was also one of the largest businesses in Europe at the time. The Company volunteered to fund the construction of the German exhibition building so long as their own items were prominently displayed. The result was that the Krupp Pavilion displayed countless examples of German guns and armaments. The large hall was filled with everything from cannons to rifles, and visitors came away in awe of Germany's powerful military capacity. The most notable display in the pavilion was “The Big Gun.” This was a giant cannon, which at 240,000 pounds, 46 feet in length, and 6.5 feet in diameter was the biggest in the world.

Germany on The Midway

While many countries chose to display their national exhibitions through fair-approved structures within the gates of the White City, other countries, either for economic or political reasons, chose to locate their main exhibitions outside the fair itself, on the Midway. These exhibitions were not formally approved by the fair, nor were they formally supported by the nations they represented. The exhibitors of these displays were thus given more freedom to embrace a more entertainment-oriented attitude and were freed from the economic burden of constructing an entire buildings. The foreign exhibitions on the Midway were numerous and fanciful. From the "Street in Cairo," which recreated an Egyptian neighborhood complete with camels, to the "Moorish Village," a similar display of an Ottoman environment, these concessions were less about representing a nation and more about entertaining the visitors. 

The Germans, too, had a space on the Midway. The German Village was meant to be the complete recreation of a German environment. The concession included the walled compounds of a castle, a town hall, farm houses, and an enormous beer garden. Visitors could purchase German handicrafts, listen to German music, and drink German beer. This display was especially popular with German immigrants looking for a slice of hime, and the exhibit stood in stark contrast to the terrifying display of destructive power at the official Krupp Pavilion. 

The German presence at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition thus managed to both represented the cultural background of the nation, with its architecture and entertainment, while also symbolizing to the world its militaristic power and strength.

References

C.D., Arnold. Official Views of the World's Columbian Exposition. The Project Guttenberg Ebook. Web.

Johnson, Ray. The Krupp Gun Pavilion at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. ChicagoNow. November 9, 2013. Web.

Sandweiss, Eric. “Around the World in a Day: International Participation in the World’s Columbian Exposition.” Illinois Historical Journal. 18.1. (1991): 2-14. Print.