| Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum | |
| Nrhp Type: | cp |
| Nocat: | yes |
| Partof: | Graceland Cemetery |
| Partof Refnum: | 00001628 |
| Location: | Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States |
| Built: | 1893 |
| Architect: | Richard E. Schmidt |
| Architecture: | Egyptian Revival |
| Added: | January 18, 2001 |
The Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum is a tomb in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. It was designed by Chicago School architect Richard E. Schmidt in the requested Egyptian Revival style as a family mausoleum for the Chicago brewer Peter Schoenhofen.
Well-known Chicago brewer Peter Schoenhofen (born in Dörbach, then Prussia, in 1827; died in 1893) his Schoenhofen Brewing Company was among the largest in Chicago in 1880. Schoenhofen's family mausoleum was designed by Richard E. Schmidt, a Chicago School architect, in 1893, with construction beginning on July 1 of that year.[1] The mausoleum is internationally famous and is one of the most photographed mausoleums at Graceland Cemetery.
The Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum is a steep sided tomb designed, like many of the monuments at Chicago's Graceland Cemetery, in the Egyptian Revival style.[2] The tomb is a family mausoleum constructed from gray granite. The pyramid structure is set upon a square base.[2] To the left of the entryway, is an angel, on the right of the entry stands a sphinx.[2] The pyramid's design combines both Egyptian (the sphinx) and Christian (the angel) symbols.[3] Regardless, the American Institute of Architects' Chicago guide book called the angel "rather out-of-place".[4] The door to the pyramid is styled after the gateways at Karnak, in Egypt, and is 40 inches wide by 84 inches high. A bronze molding of bundled reeds surrounds the door and the door's themselves feature cast lotus designs with coiled asps around the handles.[2]
While the Schoenhofen Mausoleum is a pyramid, and referred to as such, its design is only Egyptian-inspired. The angel on the tomb base is clearly not Egyptian and even the sphinx merely takes its inspiration from Egyptian architecture.[5] There are several historical works that are considered related to the Schoenhofen Mausoleum. The Roman funerary pyramid of Caius Cestius is considered a historical predecessor to the Schoenhofen Mausoleum.[5] Perhaps more closely related are the pyramid by Louis Carrogis Carmontelle at Parc Monceau in Paris and a cenotaph by Antonio Canova that was erected as the tomb of Maria Christina in Vienna at the Augustinian Church.[5]