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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
The Wainwright Tomb.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
The Lemp Mausoleum.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Anton Griesedieck grave group.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Joseph Griesedieck grave.
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Anton Griesedieck grave.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Otto Stifel grave.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Straub Winkelmeyer grave.
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Uhrig grave.
This year’s Fifth Annual Historic Beer Barons Tour at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum has grown to encompass the entire weekend. For the first time, the event will spread out over two days, with tickets on sale for either Saturday or Sunday. Included in the “Taster’s Ticket” is a timed trolley tour with cemetery guides, as well as beer and food samples; the more expensive “Baron’s Ticket” allows entry into several mausolea along with an expanded tour. Every year, the Bellefontaine staff chooses a rotating cast of lesser-known brewers interred in the cemetery, as well some longtime favorites.
The well-known brewers include the Busches and the Lemps, famous for their many interesting and sometimes troubled family members. The massive, Gothic Revival Busch Mausoleum is a favorite among visitors to the cemetery, and devotees of the company’s beer leave bottle caps on the elaborate gate protecting the front door. What is most fascinating about the mausoleum is its Gothic style—most of the famous industrialists chose more classical influences, such as the Egyptian or Greek Revival, for their tombs. Perhaps the unique style was just another way the Adolphus Busch carefully crafted his public image. One aspect of the mausoleum and its accompanying graves is that the plot only covers the first generation of the Busch family; the majority of later Busches, including Gussie, are buried in a simple glade out near Grant’s Farm at the Sunset Memorial Park on Gravois Road.
The Lemp Mausoleum is another favorite, and now, after years of being locked to keep out a man pretending to be a member of the family, the public can get a look inside. (Access this weekend is only for those who purchased the more inclusive Baron’s Tickets.) While the mausoleum, the largest in the cemetery, is a stunning example of Neoclassical architecture, the stained glass window on the interior depicting purple lilies remains one of the most beautiful of its kind in St. Louis. Sadly, and perhaps most ironically, the mausoleum sits over half empty. Again, just like the Busch family, the scion of the Lemps, Adam, is not interred in the mausoleum, but rather remained in his humbler burial on the other side of the cemetery. For whatever reason, William Lemp Sr. chose not to move his father and mother to his newly completed mausoleum.
The world-famous Wainwright Mausoleum, one of only three designed by the great Louis Sullivan, sits right across the road from the Lemps, and is also open for Baron’s Tickets holders. Ellis Wainwright and his wife are buried inside, after a lifetime of investing and attempting to take on the German-dominated brewing industry in St. Louis. The English-American is not nearly as well known to St. Louisans nowadays, but over 100 years ago, Wainwright would have been one of the most prominent members of the city. Building on his father’s wealth provided by their brewery, he sought to take on the Busches and Lemps, culminating in 1889 with the creation of the St. Louis Brewing Association (SLBA), a consortium of smaller breweries who joined together to increase competition. Since English bankers were financing the venture, Wainwright was the natural choice for president. But as Alvin Griesedieck would write years later, the inefficiency and bloated salaries of the formerly independent brewery executives helped to sink the Association. Earthbound Beer, one of the modern-day breweries who will be on hand this weekend, are renovating the former Cherokee Brewery, once part of the SLBA.
Another lesser known family, but critical to the history of brewing in St. Louis, is the Griesedieck family; Anton Griesedieck and his sons founded their brewing empire in the mid-19th century. A cluster of graves, dominated by Anton’s massive monument, complete with a portrait bust of the brewer, sits away from Wainwright, Lemps and Busches. At one point, different branches of the family owned the Griesedieck Bros. Brewery, Falstaff and Stag; all three were bought out or closed in the 20th century. There are rumors of Falstaff coming back, and Stag has been revived, but Griesedieck Bros. was resurrected by actual members of the family with original recipes and yeast from the 1950s. Having just announced the opening of a brewery here in St. Louis after contract brewing in Wisconsin, members of that brewing dynasty will also be on hand this Saturday.
Getting even more esoteric is Joseph Uhrig, owner of the Camp Spring Brewery, located on Market Street near the Post Office and Peabody Opera House. Perhaps what is most interesting about Uhrig is the still-extant lagering cellar located at the intersection of Washington and Jefferson Avenues (ever wonder why there are so many manholes in the middle of the street?). Famous for the entertainment venue up above the cellars, Uhrig’s Cave, the site later became the St. Louis Coliseum, and now the location of the old Jefferson Savings and Loan, the focus of famous Civil Rights protests. But down below the building still lie the old lagering cellars. Despite its name, the vaults are far too narrow to have been open to the public for shows, so the “Cave” part of the name was a misnomer.
Otto and Charles Stifel’s name have fallen into obscurity since Prohibition. Otto owned the Union Brewery, later Falstaff Plant. No. 2 on Gravois. The main brewery is demolished, but ancillary structures still stand on Michigan and Wyoming. Perhaps what is most famous about Otto is his subsequent suicide in 1920; while popular myth states that many brewers took their own lives, in reality most found new sources of income. Of course, as his experience shows, some honest businessmen were not able to deal with the crushing weight of losing their brewery. The name “Union Brewery” was also used for a short time by Julius Winkelmeyer.
The Beer Barons’ Tour provides a perfect example of how history is alive and relevant in St. Louis. The renaissance of brewing in the Gateway City over the last decade to the greatest number of companies since the 1880s shows us that the past is the present again.
Tickets for the Beer Barons tour are $35-$60 and are available on Bellefontaine's website. For more information, call 314-381-0750 or go to bellefontainecemetery.org.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.
