monument aux morts

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

From 1919 onwards, the Municipal Council wished for the erection of a commemorative monument for the 376 inhabitants of Montbéliard who died during the Great War. It first appealed in 1920 to Armand Bloch (1866-1933). A sculptor born in Montbéliard (Doubs) in a family of sculptors specializing in funeral monuments, Bloch left for Paris in 1882 to work in the studio of sculptor Alexandre Falguière in order to prepare for the entrance examination of the École des beaux-arts. He failed and appears to have ceased his training around 1885. He nevertheless received numerous commissions executed in his Parisian studio, mostly from Franche-Comté personalities from the networks he maintained extensively (Les Gaudes, La Gairi, etc.). He exhibited regularly at the Salons where he received medals and at national and international exhibitions. Author of numerous monuments and busts, in wood or stone, he was widely sought after by communes around Montbéliard after the Great War: 11 commemorative monuments were created between 1919 and 1924 (Abbévillers, Audincourt, Beaucourt, Courtefontaine, Hérimoncourt, Mandeure, Montbéliard, Roppe, Saint-Hippolyte, Seloncourt, and the monument to Corporal Peugeot, Joncherey (destroyed)). For an unknown reason, the project validated in 1921 was ultimately abandoned. In November 1922, the commune appealed to Maurice Boutterin (1882-1970), Grand Prix de Rome and native of Besançon, practising in Paris, place des Vosges, as chief architect of civil buildings and national palaces. The author of 4 war memorials in Franche-Comté: Pontarlier (1921-1922), Montbéliard (1922-1924), Besançon (1924- destroyed), Vesoul (1925), had to consider a project for the place de l'Enclos retained after lengthy public debates.

Description

The architect proposed an obelisk topped with a bust of a poilu represented as a hero crowned with laurel, the inhabitants of Montbéliard having requested that the death of soldiers not be evoked but rather their heroism for the Fatherland, as recalled by the inscription: "Montbéliard, to its children". On the obelisk, the emblematic figure of the Lutheran Montbéliarde, called the "diaichotte" (dressed in a fichu knotted around the neck called the diairi and typical of Montbéliard, shirt with wide sleeves, apron) was chosen to represent the allegory of the city bearing the bouquet of flowers as recognition to the soldier. In the middle ground: buildings, chimneys, recall the city's industry very active in the war effort (Peugeot, etc.). The sculptured parts in Carrara marble were executed by Armand Bloch. In 1923, the city still considered another location for the monument, at the foot of the citadel and castle, despite protests from both artists, and it was inaugurated there on 9 November 1924. A square enclosed by railings completed the ensemble from 1925 onwards. In 1992, the monument was moved to make way for a new automotive development. The square Resener, laid out in the 1930s behind the citadel, then became a square du Souvenir comprising: the monument to the Great War, the monument to the 21st battalion of light infantry, the monument to the 1870 war (by Armand Bloch) and new plaques with the names of victims of the various conflicts. The whole was designed by André Berger, DPLG architect of the CREAD Architecture agency in Sochaux.