Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Mumm expedition pantry, nicknamed Le Cellier, was built in 1898 by the remois architect Ernest Kalas for the Jules Mumm champagne house. Located at the 4 bis rue de Mars in Reims, adjacent to the town hall, it is distinguished by its two-part facade: a red brick utility base with a circular door evoking lightnings, and a mosaic top frieze illustrating the five stages of champagne manufacture (vendanges, vinification, swirling, degorging, marketing). The interior and exterior sets mobilized several Parisian artists, including Auguste Guilbert-Martin (mosaïsts), Joseph Blanc and Octave Guillonnet (drawers), as well as Joseph Wary (sculptor of the cariatids symbolizing the virtues of wine: Virtus, Ingenium, Amor, Gaudium).

During the First World War, after the bombing of the City Hall in March 1917, the cellar served as a temporary seat on the Reims City Council. Successive property of the Mumm GH houses (from 1905), Veuve Clicquot, then Jacquart, it was acquired by the city in 2010. Ranked a historic monument in 1997 for its façade, it embodies a rare example of an advertising façade linked to the Champagne industry, combining functionality and decorative art.

Reconverted into a cultural centre in 2015, the pantry now houses exhibitions (such as Gérard Rondeau's one in 2015-2016), theatres, and artistic workshops (drawing, photography, painting). Its basement retains a museum vocation, while the floors welcome creative activities. This hybrid place bears witness to the wine heritage of Reims and its contemporary cultural dynamism.

Future

The cellar is converted as a place of multicultural development and presentation and inaugurated on April 4, 2015.

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