The Athenaeum (Images of America)

Das Deutsche Haus, now known as the Athenaeum, is one of the great architectural and historic treasures of Indianapolis. Now recognized as a national landmark, it is emblematic not just of the culture of this great Midwestern city but also of the role of German immigrants, particularly die Freidenker (the freethinkers), who sought to build a community centered on secular ideas and family. It is a cathedral to healthy minds and bodies, boldness and ingenuity, and cultural inclusiveness and the arts. This building's 19th-century founders would approve of the Athenaeum today--a multicultural center, throbbing with life, that unites a diverse community with its past and beckons a bright future. The structure looks the same as it did a century and a quarter ago and serves much the same purpose.