Getting Out of Your Furnished Rut

All of us get into ruts, whether it’s in our work or our leisure pursuits. There is a certain comfort with the familiar. But sometimes it’s good to explore new terrain and ideas. When contemplating one’s eternal home it might be worth considering the adventurous and unusual rather than just sticking to traditional styles.

When exploring cemeteries and mausoleums, I look for tombs that are a little (and sometime a lot) different. After all, after exploring dozens and dozens of cemeteries around the world, mausoleums, just like there urban counterparts, mansions, start to look alike. I like to add a little visual spice to my diet.

I seek out those seemingly out-of-place tombs and mausoleums and find myself wondering if the quirky architectural embellishments reflect an eccentric individual, or if, perhaps, the person simply wanted to make a special final statement.

What many people don’t know is that building a mausoleum in a unique style often costs little more than building one using a conventional design. All mausoleums share similar elements. They need to have foundations, crypts, doors, and substantial walls. It is just the details that separate the conventional from the unique.

In a recent trip to Paris, I ventured, as I always do when visiting the City of Light, into Père-Lachaise cemetery. Established in 1804, Père-Lachaise is the first garden cemetery in the world. Indeed, almost all landscaped cemeteries in the Western world in the 19th century were modeled, in some fashion, on Père-Lachaise.

Most first-time visitors to Père-Lachaise head immediately to the grave of American Rock and Roll superstar Jim Morrison. There are also a number of other luminaries and celebrities who get a lot of attention. Père-Lachaise also sports a variety of mausoleums. Like most cemeteries, Père-Lachaise has dozens and dozens of tombs that look pretty much the same (the most common mausoleum style is a “chapelle” which looks a bit like an effervescent stone telephone booth).

However, amongst the broad canvas of Classical Revival and Gothic mausoleums are some wonderfully sensuous examples of Art Nouveau architecture and angular edifices of Art Deco architecture. Both styles were first popularized in France. Art Nouveau’s reign was during the late 19th century through the early 20th century while Art Deco flourished from the mid 1920’s until World War II.

But, what got my attention during my recent visit to Père-Lachaise was the mausoleum of Rudolf Lehmann in Division 94. It was hard to believe I was actually in a cemetery, but there it was, a fairytale castle complete with four turrets, a high-pitched roof, and an elegant entryway. Inside is a beautiful stained glass window depicting an angel at the entrance to Jesus’ rock-cut tomb. They say every man’s home is his castle. Rudolf Lehmann decided to extend the definition to cover his final home: his mausoleum.

Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

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