Schoenhofen Mausoleum Sphinx - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 41° 57.561 W 087° 39.568
16T E 445349 N 4645473
This sphinx is at the entrance to the Mausoleum of a prominent brewer in Chicago.
Waymark Code: WMC75G
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/02/2011
Views: 6
Chicago's Graceland Cemetery has gravesites for many prominent people...with many unique monuments.
This mausoleum has a pyramid shape with a sphinx and an angel guarding its door.
Sphinxes are mythcal creatures in several ancient cultures, most notably Greek and Egyptian...but also in Asia..and then during the classical period in Europe. A sphinx has the head of a human and the body of a lion. This particular sphinx is in the Egyptian style wearing the garb of a pharoah. Many Egyptian pharoahs had their images engraved on a sphinx to demonstrate their closeness to the powerful solar deity, Sekhmet, a lioness. See (
visit link)
The cemetery's website (
visit link) informs us:
"Peter Schoenhofen, 1827 - 1893
Wealthy brewer Schoenhofen’s pyramid was designed by architect Richard Schmidt in 1893. It features the unlikely combination of an Egyptian pyramid and sphinx with a typical Victorian era angel. Since that may be hedging one’s bet on the afterlife, we say: Prosit, Herr Schoenhofen. (Literal translation of this German toast: “May it be useful, Mr. Schoenhofen.”)"