Lemp Family Mausoleum - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 41.387 W 090° 13.485
15S E 741380 N 4286008
Lemp Family was a national brewery family, that ended in multiple tragedies at the turn of the century (20th). Date is on the bronze doors.
Waymark Code: WM15T3T
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 02/21/2022
Views: 1
County of structure: St. Louis Independent City
Location of mausoleum: Inside at Prospect, E of Woodbine; 4947 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis
Built: 1902
Architect: Frank Henry Kronauge
Architectural Style: Greek Revival
"Lemp Family, brewery owners
Architect: Frank Henry Kronauge
Date Erected: 1902
Granite. Bellefontaine’s largest family mausoleum. Greek Revival
pediment supported by paired Tuscan columns. Paired bronze doors with
multi-paned lights set within Greek Revival scored surround. Scored
walls and copper modillions in cornice" ~ NRHP Nomination Form
The Lemps were German immigrants who made their fortune as brewers, becoming one of St. Louis’ first families. They became art collectors importing craftsmen from Bavaria to decorate the gray granite mansion that was built just north of the brewery on South 13th Street. Despite great wealth, the family’s gloomy history is filled with tragedy — suicides, heart attacks and flickering madness. The brewery was closed during prohibition and liquidated. After four generations none of the family with the name were left. The family is buried in their tomb, the largest in Bellefontaine." ~ Bellefontaine Cemetery
"The Lemp family story is one of great fortune and great tragedy. The Lemp family fortune was made in the late 1800's and early 1900's family owned Lemp brewery. The brewery was one of the largest in the country. The family's tragedies began with the death of Frederick Lemp in 1901 at the age of only 28. He was his father's favorite son and was being groomed to take over the operations of the company. The father William Sr. never fully recovered from his son death and committed suicide in 1904. The business was then taken over by William Jr. William Jr. along with this wife Lillian known as the "Lavender Lady" had a proclivity of spending the family's fortune. The brewery business declined during World War I and reached its demise during prohibition. The next tragedy to strike the family was the suicide of William Jr.s sister Elsa Lemp Wright in 1920, she also shot herself in the mansion. William Jr next committed suicide in 1922. The last of the Lemp family to commit suicide in the mansion was William Jr. brother Charles in 1949. The only surviving brother Edwin left the family business in 1913 and moved to an estate in Kirkwood and lived to an old age of 90 years. There are no members of the Lemp family remaining." ~ BruceS