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Origin and history

The Napoleonic bench-restaurant of Struth is a public monument built in the 19th century in Alsace, under the impulse of the prefects of Bas-Rhin. These benches, called Nabele Bänk ("Napoleon benches"), were erected between 1811 and 1812 to celebrate the birth of the King of Rome, son of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria. The Prefect Adrien of Lezay-Marnesia ordered their installation every 2.5 km along the roads, combining practical utility (repose of peasants carrying burdens) and imperial symbol. Each bench was accompanied by lindens and terminals to place the charges.

In 1853, the prefect Auguste-César West launched this project on the occasion of Napoleon III's marriage with Empress Eugénie, this time funded by the department. 448 sandstone banks of the Vosges were built in 1854, but many disappeared by negligence or destruction. In Struth, this bench, registered with the Historical Monuments in 1988, bears witness to this dual vocation: commemorative (Napoleonian culture) and social (support to rural workers). Its design includes a top slab to place the baskets and a lower bench to sit.

Rest benches reflected 19th-century Alsatian rural habits. Peasants wore their baskets on their heads, protected by a Wisch (sound cover), while men used leather hoods. These monuments, often placed near markets, facilitated stopovers on loaded trips. After 1870, under German administration, their interview was abandoned, deemed obsolete with the arrival of the carriages. Only a few examples, such as Struth's, remain today, protected since the 1980s.

Struth Bank, located on CD 78 (15 Rue des Champs), is owned by the Bas-Rhin department. Its state of conservation and registration in 1988 make it a rare vestige of this utilitarian and political heritage. The original lime trees, often associated with these monuments, may have disappeared, but the stone structure retains its original shape, recalling the social ingenuity of the Napoleonic era.

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