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Origin and history

The Napoleonic bench-rest of Bouxwiller is a typical monument of Alsace, erected to offer a place of rest to peasants going to markets or fairs. These benches, often accompanied by lindens, allowed to lay the burdens (baskets on the head for women, hoods for men) and rest during the journeys. Their design met a practical need in a region where agriculture and local trade were central.

This specific bench was commissioned around 1854 by the prefect of Bas-Rhin, Auguste-César West, as part of a departmental initiative taking on the wish of Empress Eugénie de Montijo. Unlike the first benches of 1811, financed by the communes to celebrate the birth of Napoleon I's son, those of 1854 were partially subsidized by the department. This second wave of construction was also aimed at reviving the Alsatian economy after the food crisis of 1846-1848.

The Bouxwiller Bank, located on the departmental road CD 232, was restored and protected as a Historic Monument by order of 9 May 1988. Like many of these buildings, he survived the vicissitudes of time, including periods of neglect under German annexation (after 1870), where his maintenance was abandoned. The bench-rests, once considered obsolete at the beginning of the 20th century due to the evolution of modes of transport, are today historic witnesses of Alsatian rural life.

The Napoleonic bench-rests are distinguished by their architectural form: a top slab to place the loads, a lower bench to sit, and often trees planted for shade. In Bouxwiller, this monument embodies both past social utility and a political commemoration, linked to Napoleonic regimes. Their preservation since the 1980s reflects recognition of their historical and cultural value.

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