Harbeck Memorial Chapel

One of the greatest mausoleums at Woodlawn Cemetery, this one memorializes John H. Harbeck, a wealthy turn-of-the-century businessman, who is now otherwise forgotten. Having inherited some money from his father, he divorced his first wife in a scandalous, messy, divorce, fodder for tabloid headlines, after he took up with a younger woman. (Reminds of Donald Trump, whom I hope eventually falls into even darker obscurity than Harbeck.) Harbeck’s second wife, Kate, commissioned this magnificent memorial chapel for Harbeck when he died in 1910.

octagonal Harbeck Memorial Chapel

octagonal Harbeck Memorial Chapel


Harbeck Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery

Harbeck Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery

It’s a magnificent Gothic Revival octagonal structure, richly detailed, one of the biggest mausoleums among the many clustered around the Jerome Avenue entrance.

bronze doors, after the Baptistry in Florence

bronze doors, after the Baptistry in Florence

Bronze doors, accurate replicas of Ghiberti’s famous doors on the north face of the Baptistery in Florence. My friend Alan still marvels at the length of time I spent scrutinizing those doors in 1987. I should have just gone to the Bronx instead!

Harbeck Mausoleum Gothic  buttresses

Harbeck Mausoleum Gothic buttresses

decorative cherubic details

decorative cherubic details

gargoyle rainspout

gargoyle rainspout

Gotta love the gargoyles!