Salem Fields Cemetery

Salem Fields Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 775 Jamaica Avenue in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, United States, within the Cemetery Belt. It was founded in 1852 by Temple Emanu-el.

The main entrance to Salem Fields Cemetery

The entrance sign at Salem Fields Cemetery

Salem Fields is the final resting place for many of the prominent German-Jewish families of New York City. Among those laid to rest in the cemetery are members of the Fox family, founders of 20th Century Fox Film Corp.; the Guggenheim family of mining, newspaper, and museum fame; the Lewisohn family of mining, banking, and philanthropic interests; and the Shubert family, builders of the largest theatre empire in the 20th century.

Architectural historian Fredric Bedoire, Professor at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Stockholm, compared the "beautiful" Salem Fields to the architecturally notable mausoleums and undulating landscape of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.[1] Architect Henry Beaumont Herts designed the Guggenheim family mausoleum, modeled after the Tower of the Winds at Athens. The entrance of Salem Fields was designed by Henry Fernbach, Central Synagogue's architect.[2]

Salem Fields is part of a larger complex of cemeteries spanning into the borough of Queens, including likewise Jewish Machpelah Cemetery, where Harry Houdini is buried; Union Field Cemetery; Mount Judah Cemetery, where several prominent Rabbis lie; Mount Carmel Cemetery; and the non-denominational Cypress Hills Cemetery and Cemetery of the Evergreens.