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Origin and history

The Château de la Pommerie, located in Asdrieux (Dordogne), was built at the end of the 18th century and transformed in the 19th century, including its northern facade. Since 1999, he has hosted a museum dedicated to Napoleon I and the Second Empire, housing collections from the Brussels residence of Prince Victor Napoleon, Bonapartist heir exiled to Belgium after 1886. These objects, including tapestries and family portraits, were gathered by the prince and his relatives to preserve imperial memory.

The castle is linked to the Bonaparte family via Count Baudouin-Napoleon de Witt, descendant of Jérôme Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon I). Prince Victor Napoleon, the son of Jerome, married Princess Clementine of Belgium there in 1910 despite the opposition of his father, King Leopold II. After his death in 1926, his heirs, including his daughter Marie-Clotilde (countess of Witt), continued the collection, which had been installed in the Pommerie since 1949.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2002, the castle also exhibits imperial objects of worship created by the people, as well as anecdotes such as the powder pear of Archduke Rodolphe of Austria, offered to Princess Clementine. The museum illustrates the enthusiasm for the Empire at the turn of the 20th century, with coins bought by merchants such as Elie Fabius or collectors such as Baron Gourgaud.

The collections came in part from the liquidation of Napoleon III's civil list after 1870, when the former empress Eugénie claimed property such as Don Quixote's tapestries from his villa in Biarritz. Public sales (Hôtel Drouot, Christie's) dispersed these objects, some later reintegrating French heritage. The castle remains private property, managed by the descendants of Witt's family.

The museum presents portraits of the Bonaparte family (Napoleon I, Josephine, Napoleon III) and Belgian sovereigns, reflecting the dynasty alliances. Among the remarkable pieces are memories of Napoleon I, weapons, and documents related to the exile of Bonaparters. The whole shows the persistence of the Napoleonic myth, even after the fall of the Second Empire.

Future

The "Napoléon Museum", installed in the castle, exhibits a large number of memories of the First and Second Empire, which were in the residence of Prince Victor Napoleon, Avenue Louise in Brussels (Belgium).

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