Jens Jensen (Landscape Architect)
| Jens Jensen | |
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Jensen in 1943
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| Superintendent of the Chicago Park District | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 13, 1860 near Dybbøl, Denmark |
| Died | October 1, 1951 (aged 91) The Clearing Folk School |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Marie Hansen |
Jens Jensen (September 13, 1860 - October 1, 1951) was a Danish-American landscape architect.
Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl, Denmark, on September 13, 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment. When he was four years old, during the Second War of Schleswig in 1864, Jensen watched the Prussians invade his town, and burn his family's farm buildings. This invasion, which annexed the land into Prussia, left a deep influence on how Jensen viewed the world of man. He attended the Tune Agricultural School outside Copenhagen, afterwards undertaking mandatory service in the Prussian Army. During those three years, he sketched parks in the English and French character in Berlin and other German cities. By 1884, his military service over, Jensen was engaged to Anne Marie Hansen. Coupled with his wish to escape the family farm, this led to his decision to immigrate to the United States that year.
Initially Jensen worked in Florida, and then at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, before moving to Chicago and taking a job as a laborer for the West Park Commission. He was soon promoted to a foreman. During this time he was allowed to design and plant a garden of exotic flowers. When the garden withered and died, he traveled into the surrounding prairie and transplanted native wildflowers. Jensen transplanted the wildflowers into a corner of Union Park, creating what became the American Garden in 1888.
Working his way through the park system, Jensen was appointed superintendent of the 200 acre (800,000 m²) Humboldt Park in 1895. By the late 1890s, the West Park Commission was entrenched in corruption. After refusing to participate in political graft, Jensen was ousted by a dishonest park board in 1900. He was eventually reinstated and by 1905 he was general superintendent of the entire West Park System in Chicago. His design work for the city can be seen at Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Douglas Park, and Columbus Park.
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