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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The museum-hotel Le Vergeur is a private hotel located in Reims, classified as a historical monument in 1990. It consists of two buildings: one dating from the 13th century, formerly owned by Eudes de Bourgogne, and the other from the 16th century, profoundly redesigned by Nicolas Le Vergeur, bourgeois enriched by the gabelle. The latter adds Renaissance elements, including medallions and panels illustrating the society of the period (discovery of the Americas, oriental riders, arms of the Vergeur). The 13th century room preserves Gothic windows and a French ceiling mentioned by Viollet-le-Duc.

In 1662, the hotel passed to Nicolas Coquebert, who apposed his monogram. In the 19th century, it belonged to the Clicquot-Ponsardin families (owners of the champagne brand Couvert) and then Belleau. After plans to sell the medieval hall to Americans, the Society of Friends of Old Reims (SAVR), led by Hugues Krafft, bought and restored the whole after its destruction during the First World War. Krafft installed his collections there and bequeathed the building to the SAVR in 1935, giving birth to the present museum.

The courtyard and the garden exhibit architectural elements saved from the city: 12th century Romanesque arcades of the church of the Templars, 16th and 17th century portals (cloister of Saint-Pierre-le-Vieil, hospital Saint-Marcoul). The museum, created in 1932, presents Hugues Krafft's collections: engravings by Albrecht Dürer, Renaissance and Neo-Gothic furniture, 19th-century Asian works, as well as 19th-century rooms (chambers, kitchen, smoking room). Since 2019, its scientific management has been carried out by the Museum of Fine Arts in Reims.

The building was classified as historic monuments on 1 March 1990 for its facades, roofs, the Gothic hall with its ceiling, two stone staircases, glazed tiles, and architectural elements of the garden. Owned by the SAVR, it perpetuates Krafft's heritage, combining remois heritage and travel collections.

The collections also include gifts from the Pommery family (busts and portraits from the 19th to 20th centuries) and watercolours from Eugène Auger. The hotel, located between the House of the Counts of Champagne and the cryptoportique, on the Place du Forum, illustrates the architectural and social evolution of Reims, from Templars to the Champagne industry.

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