Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Marmoutier's bench-restaurant is part of the tradition of the banks-restaurants of Alsace, built in the 19th century to facilitate the stopovers of peasants going to the markets. These stone structures, often accompanied by lime trees, allowed to lay the burdens (baskets on the head or dorsal hoods) and rest. Their design reflected the rural uses of the time, where manual transport of agricultural products was common.

These banks experienced two major construction waves in Alsace. The first, in 1811-1812, was initiated by the Prefect Adrien of Lezay-Marnesia to celebrate the birth of the King of Rome (son of Napoleon I), with benches financed by the municipalities. The second, in 1853-1854, was launched by the prefect Auguste-César West under Napoleon III, with departmental funding, in a context of post-crisis economic revival (1846-1848). The bank of Marmoutier dates from this last period.

In the 20th century, these monuments fell into disuse: their shape, deemed obsolete in 1910 (replacement of baskets by carts), led to the abandonment of their maintenance. In the 1980s, however, some were protected as historical monuments, including Marmoutier's, registered in 1988. Today, it bears witness to this rural heritage and Napoleonic commemorative policies in Alsace.

External links