Exploding urban populations during the nineteenth century demanded new solutions towards burying the dead. Traditional congregational graveyards were either full or overcrowded. A combination of practical thinking and the wish to commune with nature (inspired by Romantic poetry) led to the development of serene burial grounds outside the city boundaries.
Founded as a “rural” or “garden” cemetery in 1838, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is famous for its picturesque landscape features with evocative names such as Camellia Path, Halcyon Lake, Oaken Bluff, or Vista Hill. Elaborate monuments and mausoleums, designed in an array of architectural styles, honor the Lispenard dynasty (Norman), William Niblo (Gothic), the Steinway family (Classical), and others.
And then there is the Feltman mausoleum, the columns of which feature Corinthian capitals. On each side of the doorway stands a trio of mourning figures. Those on the left hold symbols of faith (cross and doves); those on the right show grief and sorrow. The pediment features two cherubs holding a wreath with the initial F in the center. On top of the temple is a cupola with the Archangel Michael standing guard, sword at the ready. The building serves to celebrate the memory of just one man. Who was this person? A Founding Father maybe? A respected politician (if that is not a contradiction in terms)? A celebrated artist? [Read more…] about A Dog’s Tale: Dachshunds, Hot Dogs, Coney Island & Greenwood Cemetery
The Green-Wood Historic Fund is commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn with a weekend of events on Saturday and Sunday, August 26-27, 2017.
The corporate team Kärcher, that cleaned Mt. Rushmore, the Seattle Space Needle and The London Eye, recently visited to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn to give some of its famous monuments and mausoleums a special makeover.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery has unveiled biographies of more than 160 men and women, military and civilian, who served in the war to end all wars and who now are interred in the National Historic Landmark designated cemetery.
