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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Commercy Castle, located in the Meuse in the Grand East region, occupies the site of an ancient 13th century castle, partially rebuilt in the 15th century for Robert II de Commercy. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Cardinal of Retz made it his residence by preserving the medieval foundations. This strategic site, overlooking the Meuse Valley, became a symbol of local power before its major transformation in the 18th century.

In 1708 Charles-Henri of Lorraine-Vaudémont, the natural son of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, acquired the principality of Commercy and began the construction of a Baroque castle on the medieval ruins. The plans, inspired by Germain Boffrand and executed by architect Nicolas d'Orbay, incorporate the bases of the old round towers. When he died in 1723, the castle passed to his cousin, Duke Léopold I of Lorraine, and then to his son François III, before being given in 1737 to the duchess of customs Élisabeth-Charlotte d'Orléans.

From 1744 to 1766, the castle became the favourite residence of Stanislas Leszczynski, former king of Poland and Duke of Lorraine. The latter organized a lavish court, welcoming figures from the Lumières such as Voltaire, Émilie du Châtelet and Jean-François de Saint-Lambert in 1748. According to legend, it is here that the madeleine, an iconic cake, was named in 1755 by the king in honor of Madeleine Paulmier, a servant. Stanislas also arranges appendices such as the "Castle d'eau" and the "Royal Fountain", now missing.

After the death of Stanislas in 1766, the castle was abandoned by order of Louis XV and transformed into a cavalry quarter until the 19th century. The gardens, destroyed to give way to the Marne Canal on the Rhine and the Paris-Strasbourg railway line, disappear almost entirely. In 1940, a fire ravaged the castle during World War II. Rached by the commune in 1957, it is restored and classified as a historical monument (1960 for the castle, 1972 for the communes), now home to the town hall and the municipal library.

The architecture of the castle combines baroque and classical elements: an honorary courtyard surrounded by commons in the hemicycle, facades with columns and frontons, and a monumental staircase offsetting the gradient towards the Meuse. The interior decorations, although partially lost, bear witness to its past fascist. The remains of the gardens, such as the missing factories, recall its role as a place of power and culture under the Old Regime.

Among the notable owners are the Cardinal of Retz (17th century), the Dukes of Lorraine, and Stanislas Leszczynski, whose life reign in Lorraine left a lasting mark. The castle, a symbol of the exchanges between Poland and France, also illustrates the political transformations of the region, from the independence of Lorraine to its permanent attachment to France in 1766.

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