Edward A. Kretschman

Early life and family Kretschman was born on August 27, 1849, in Thuringia, Germany as the eleventh child of Christian Bernhardt Kretschmann (1807–1886) and Bertha Carolina Schreck (1811–1886). In 1856, Kretschman immigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, where he trained and worked as a sculptor and engraver. The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry monument on Oak Ridge includes a standing soldier and a bronze of Sallie, the regiment's mascot; the Bureau Brothers foundry of Philadelphia cast both. Documented nineteenth-century issues associated with his Washingtoniana and exposition output include: 1887 Constitution Centennial, Philadelphia medal. 1889 Washington Inauguration Centennial equestrian medal. World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition (New Orleans, 1884–85), including Liberty Bell types and official issues. North, Central, and South American Exposition (New Orleans, 1885–86); examples are held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and are covered in the Hibler–Kappen corpus of so-called dollars.

Other awards and fair medals attributed to Kretschman in that period, the 1886 American Fat Stock, Dairy and Horse Show in Chicago.

Several medals for the German-American Bicentennial in 1883 were struck by the Philadelphia firm William H. Warner & Brother and institutional examples include a silver specimen at the Yale University Art Gallery.

Centennial Exhibition Kretschman's work appeared in the United States art department at the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The official catalogue lists his entry as “The ‘Continental’ Soldier and two portrait bronze medallions,” shown in the Memorial Hall annex.

Death and interment Kretschman died on April 1, 1923, in Philadelphia and was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.