{"nrhp_refnum":"01000556","name":"Germania Life Insurance Company Building","other_names":["Guardian Life Insurance Company Building","W New York--Union Square"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"50 Union Sq. E","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.73663126800005,"lon":-73.98866971099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-05-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A twenty-one-story granite-faced office building at the northeast corner of Park Avenue South and East 17th Street, facing Union Square in Manhattan. Built in 1910-11 for the Germania Life Insurance Company and designed by D'Oench & Yost, it has since been converted to a hotel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an important early twentieth-century New York office building for a prominent insurance company, and the most significant work of its architects. Its tall mansard roof and early lighted company sign reflect the insurance industry's use of architecture as advertising. It is also significant for its link to the history of the German immigrant community, since Germania was founded in 1860 to sell life insurance to German-Americans.","narrative":"Rising twenty-one stories at the corner of Park Avenue South and East 17th Street, this granite-clad building was erected in 1910-11 as headquarters for the Germania Life Insurance Company. The firm of D'Oench & Yost designed it in the Beaux Arts style, topped by a four-story mansard roof of red Spanish tile and a lighted company sign, an early example of its kind. Company leaders wanted a tall building so it would not be dwarfed by the commercial towers then replacing the avenue's older houses and churches. Germania was founded in 1860 to insure members of the German-American community, and the building is tied to that immigrant history. It served as the company's main office until 1999. In 2000 the offices became a hotel, but notable interiors remain, including a marble elevator lobby with domed ceilings and the double-height former cashier's room. The exterior retains a high degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1910-1950","architect_builder":"D'Oench & Yost","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Beaux Arts","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Converted to a hotel in 2000, with the office floors turned into guest rooms; several historic interiors survive, including the second-floor lobby and former cashier's room.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.462334-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01000556.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000556/8170999995-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000556/8170999995-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Empire_State_Building_from_Union_Square.jpg: Ad Meskens derivative work: Father Goose (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Germania_Life_Insurance_Company_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Empire_State_Building_from_Union_Square.jpg: Ad Meskens derivative work: Father Goose (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Germania_Life_Insurance_Company_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319546","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_New_York_Union_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5551912"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/germania-life-insurance-company-building-01000556/"}