Franz Sigel Park

Franz Sigel Park is a 15.99-acre park along the Grand Concourse in the Concourse neighborhood of the South Bronx, stretching from East 153rd to East 158th Streets. The park is named for Franz Sigel, a German-born Union Army general during the Civil War who was instrumental in rallying German immigrants to the Union cause.

Sigel's recruitment of German Americans to the Union Army was critical to maintaining Northern manpower during the war. The phrase 'I fights mit Sigel' became a popular rallying cry among German immigrant soldiers, and his leadership helped secure the loyalty of a large immigrant community whose support was not assured at the war's outset.

The park occupies a hillside along the Grand Concourse, the Bronx's most famous boulevard. The Grand Concourse was designed in 1909 as the Bronx's answer to the Champs-Elysees, and its Art Deco apartment buildings represent one of the finest concentrations of that architectural style in the world.

Franz Sigel Park features a playground, basketball courts, a swimming pool, and terraced green areas that take advantage of the hillside topography. The pool provides free summer swimming for the surrounding community, a vital amenity in the dense South Bronx neighborhoods.

The park serves the diverse Concourse community with recreation and green space in a neighborhood that has experienced significant revitalization. The Grand Concourse Historic District, which encompasses many of the Art Deco buildings near the park, was designated in 2011 to protect the boulevard's architectural heritage.