Diedrich A. Bohlen

Diedrich Augustus Bohlen (January 17, 1827 – June 1, 1890) a native of Cadenberge, Kingdom of Hanover, immigrated to the United States around 1851 and founded D. A. Bohlen, Architect, in 1853 at Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1971 it became Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, and is among the oldest architectural firms in the United States still in operation. Bohlen is best known for introducing the German Neo-Gothic architecture style to Indiana. Bohlen and his firm specialized in institutional projects, especially civic, religious, and educational buildings. More than forty of the firm's projects are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including several of D. A. Bohlen's designs: Morris-Butler House (1864); Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church (1871), its rectory (1863), and bishop's residence (1878); Indianapolis's Roberts Park Methodist Church (1876) and Crown Hill Cemetery's Gothic Chapel (1877); and in collaboration with his son, Oscar D. Bohlen, the Indianapolis City Market (1886). The combined campus of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods make up the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Historic District, the largest cohesive collection of Bohlen buildings.^[2] The District is of statewide significance on the National Register of Historic Places, for its contribution to architectural, educational and religious history.

Four successive generations of Bohlen architects have worked at the firm: Diedrich A. Bohlen (its founder), Oscar D. Bohlen (Diedrich's son), August C. Bohlen (Diedrich's grandson), and Robert L. Bohlen (Diedrich's great-grandson). In addition to those as Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, D. A. Bohlen and his firm designed many structures for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in other locations across Indiana. Bohlen also designed several notable buildings around Indianapolis, including the German-English Independent School (1860), where he also served as a school trustee; United Evangelical Zion Church (1866), later renamed Zion United Church of Christ; the General German Protestant Orphans' Home (1872), later known as Pleasant Run Children's Home; Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church (1883); and Emmanuel Church (1883), later renamed Lockerbie Square United Methodist Church. In 1882 he remodeled a vacant seminary building for the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul to house Saint Vincent Infirmary, the predecessor to Indianapolis's Saint Vincent Hospital. Prior to his death in 1890, Bohlen collaborated with his son, Oscar, on the design for Tomlinson Hall (1886), located adjacent to the Indianapolis City Market. D. A. Bohlen is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.