Kampfe Mausoleum

Green-Wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York

On June 15, 1880, the Kampfe brothers (Frederick, Richard and Otto F.) patented the Star, the first safety razor manufactured in the United States. Other inventors soon came out with their own safety razors, and from 1880 to 1901 over 80 safety razor patents were issued in the United States. Gillette, often mistakenly credited with the invention of the safety razor, didn’t acquire a patent until 1904. By 1906 a number of the Kampfe brothers’ businesses were consolidated into the American Safety Razor Company. Today the company (now the Personna American Safety Razor Company) produces blades for shaving, medical, and industrial uses.

Mausolea are often the result of a bit of playfulness on the part of architects. Although the designer of the Kampfe mausoleum has been lost to the ages, it appears that he may have used a cookie jar for his inspiration. The bit of color seen through the bronze door is a stained glass window depicting an angel telling Mary that Jesus has risen from the dead. The bronze door depicts a woman with a lamp about to enter the mausoleum. Seven Kampfes are spending eternity in the whimsical mausoleum. The last internment was Maria Kampfe who died in 1946.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=Green-wood Cemetery” street=”Willow Avenue” city=”New York” state=”NY” zip=”11218″]