The Immigrant Family Sculpture

A special historic theme emphasized in the Roots and Leaves Museum is the untold story of the immigration of over 70,000 Luxembourgers to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries.  This number represented a mass immigration from Luxembourg of nearly one-quarter of its total population.

The Immigrant Family Sculpture that graces the Roots and Leaves Museum honors those brave individuals and families who left their beloved homeland to start a new life in America.  The sculpture was a gift to the Roots and Leaves Museum from the people of Luxembourg through its Ministry of Culture. 

The Immigrant Family Sculpture

The Immigrant Family was sculpted in Mersch, Luxembourg, by artist Serge Weis.  The heads and hands of The Immigrant Family are fabricated of native Luxembourg clay and the family is donned in reproduction clothing.  They are depicted as an immigrant family walking down a gang plank to set foot on American soil for the first time.  Their heads and hands are featured in natural terra cotta which gives the family a sense of timelessness.

The Immigrant Family is based on the Jacob & Anna (Speltz) Frisch Family who immigrated from Beaufort, Luxembourg, to Oak Ridge, Minnesota, near Rollingstone, in 1869.  The faces of some of the Frisch family were adapted from an original photograph to create The Immigrant Family Sculpture. The “evolution” of the Immigrant Family from the Frisch Family is pictured below.

Original Jacob & Anna Frisch Family Photo - Circa 1870s	Sketch for The Immigrant Family Sculpture Based on faces from the Frisch Family

Final product – The Immigrant Family Sculpture