Napoleonian bench à Knoersheim dans le Bas-Rhin

Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Napoleonic bench-rest of Knœrsheim is a typical monument of Alsace, erected in the 3rd quarter of the 19th century (circa 1853-1854) under the impulse of the Prefect Auguste-César West. This type of bench, called Nabele Bänk ("Napoléon's benches"), takes over an earlier initiative launched in 1811-1812 by Prefect Adrien de Lezay-Marnésia to celebrate the birth of the King of Rome, son of Napoleon I. The benches were intended to offer a rest for peasants carrying burdens to the markets, with a top slab to place the loads and a lower bench to sit, often surrounded by lime trees.

In 1853, Empress Eugénie de Montijo revived the project to mark the first anniversary of her marriage with Napoleon III. The Bas-Rhin department then financed the construction of 448 sandstone banks in the Vosges, including Knœrsheim. These monuments, symbols of imperial commemoration, were also practical break points on communal roads and roads. Their design reflected local usages: the peasants placed their baskets there (carried on the head with a pad called der Wisch), while the men placed their hoods there.

Under German annexation after 1870, the bench-rests, deemed obsolete, were gradually abandoned. In 1906, a press campaign alerted them to their degradation, but the required maintenance measures were not implemented. In 1910, the local authorities declared their form obsolete, the top slab becoming useless with the appearance of carts. Despite this, some banks, such as Knœrsheim, survive and are protected as historical monuments in the 1980s (inscription by decree of 9 May 1988).

Today, these benches bear witness to both French imperial history in Alsace and traditional agricultural practices. Knœrsheim, located at the intersection of the departmental roads CD 68 and CD 112, is one of the few copies still visible, classified for its heritage value and its link to local history.

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