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Origin and history

The Kutzenhausen bench, located in the Alsatian village of the same name, dates from the 1st quarter of the 19th century. It is part of a series of public monuments built in Alsace between 1811 and 1812, at the initiative of the Prefect of Bas-Rhin Adrien de Lezay-Marnesia. These benches, called "Nabele Bänk" ("Napoléon benches"), commemorated the birth of the "King of Rome" (sons of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria). Their design had a dual purpose: to provide a resting place for peasants carrying heavy loads to markets, and symbolically mark the territory with imperial monuments. A prefectural letter of 22 April 1811 directed the municipalities to erect these reposes every 2.5 km, accompanied by four to five trees for shade.

These benches were specially adapted for local use. The peasants placed their baskets, protected by a cushion ("der Wisch"), on the top slab, while the peasants hung their leather hoods on side posts. Horsemen could also use these terminals to get up in the saddle. The construction costs were initially borne by the municipalities, but some, citing an overly rough terrain, refused to comply. Of the 125 banks built in 1811, few have survived until today, victims of erosion, conflict or abandonment.

A second wave of constructions took place in 1854, under the impetus of the prefect Auguste-César West, taking over the idea of Lezay-Marnesia to celebrate the marriage of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. This time, the department partially financed the 448 new sandstone benches of the Vosges. However, their interview was neglected after 1870, during the German annexation of Alsace. In 1906, a press campaign warned about their degradation, but the authorities considered their form obsolete (the top slab becoming useless with the arrival of the carts). In 1910, their restoration was abandoned, and many disappeared. It was only from the 1980s that some, such as Kutzenhausen, were protected as historical monuments (registered on 20 October 1982).

Kutzenhausen's bench-restaurant thus illustrates a page of Alsatian social history, linked to agricultural practices and Napoleonic commemorative policies. Its functional architecture — slab, bench and pillars — reflects the concrete needs of 19th-century rural populations, as well as traces of the political and territorial upheavals in the region. Today, it bears witness to a rare vernacular heritage, preserved despite the vicissitudes of history.

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