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Key figures

Origin and history

The Albert and Félicie Demard department museum originated from the passion of Albert Demard (1910–1980), born in Champlitte in a modest family, and his wife Félicie (1903–2003). Born from a peasant background, Albert worked in a variety of occupations (pâtre, workman-tanner, gardener) before working with Félicie to preserve rural heritage. In the 1950s, as the rural exodus and agricultural modernization transformed the countryside, the couple began collecting furniture, tools and objects bearing witness to the peasant life of Upper Sahon between 1880 and 1915. Their son, Jean-Christophe, joined them in this family business.

Founded officially in 1957 as the departmental museum of Arts and Folk Traditions, the establishment settles in the castle of Champlitte, a building combining a 16th century wing and extensions of the 18th century. It became a departmental museum in 1963, offering an immersion in the rural society of the turn of the 20th century, through the reconstitution of peasant interiors (common rooms, forge or lace workshops), shops (coffee shop, grocery store) and community spaces. The living rooms on the ground floor, decorated with panoramic wallpapers evoking the voyages of Captain Cook, restored the nobiliary atmosphere of the eighteenth century, in connection with the history of the former owners, the De Toullongeon family (until 1825).

The museum also addresses less conventional topics, such as popular medicine, smuggling matches or alcohol, or emigration of the inhabitants of Champlitte (Chanitian) to Mexico in the 19th century. Under orangery, a space is dedicated to the vine and the presses, recalling the local wine-growing importance. Albert Demard, founder of the folk group The Compars de Chanitte, has also worked to revitalize traditional festivals, such as that of Saint Vincent. After his death in 1980, the museum was renamed in his honour and extended to Félicie after his death in 2003. Today it benefits from the label Musée de France.

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