Franz August Aust was an educator, author, speaker, and landscape architect. He was born in Defiance, Ohio, and studied landscape architecture at University of Michigan where he was the first graduate of Michigan’s new five-year Master’s in Landscape Architecture program. Following graduation, Aust began working in a university extension position at the University of Illinois. In June 1915, Aust accepted an offer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to teach landscape architecture, prepare plans for the University’s campus, and also to promote landscape architecture through the university’s Extension program. He would be the first professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would teach there until retiring in 1943. After retiring from teaching, Aust would continue his private design practice.

Aust was an advocate of naturalistic landscape design and the use of native plant materials, and he was heavily influenced by Jens Jensen and other landscape architects who advocated naturalistic landscape designs and the use of native planting materials. He was also strongly opposed to the pruning of trees and shrubs, preferring them to grow in their natural state. Aust was also a founder of the Wisconsin chapter of the important early conservation organization, The Friends of Our Native Landscape. The Friends organization was established by Jensen in 1913, and its membership included prominent conservationists such as Aldo Leopold. In the 1930s, Aust also offered a series of radio talks on the subject of beautifying home grounds over the UW’s WHA radio station.

While a number of historically significant landscape architects completed notable projects in Wisconsin, Franz Aust was the first significant landscape architect to establish his residence and practice in Wisconsin.

Known Projects in Wisconsin

Agricultural Hall Rock Garden, Madison, Dane County

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Goeres Park

Designed by Franz Aust for the Village of Lodi in 1935 and built by the Works Progress Administration. View the property record: AHI 111549

Ojibwa Country Store (Ojibwa Courier Press Building), Ojibwa, Sawyer County, 1922

Lodi High School Retaining Walls, Lodi, Columbia County, 1935

Goeres Park, Lodi, Columbia County, 1939

Park Place Homes, Superior, Douglas County, 1942

Villa Louis Grounds, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County

Properties Listed in the National Register of Historic Places

Villa Louis Grounds, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County | Listed October 15, 1966

Lodi High School Retaining Walls (Lodi School Hillside Improvement Site) Lodi, Columbia County, 1935 | Listed April 9, 2009

Goeres Park, Lodi, Columbia County, 1939 | Listed April 9, 2009

Bibliography

• Franz Aust Papers. Wisconsin Historical Society, Archives.
• “Franz Aust.” The Cultural Landscape Foundation. 
• Heggland, Timothy F. “Goeres Park.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (NPS Form 10-900). Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI, February 19, 2009.
• “Jens Jensen.” Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.

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