Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The statue of Admiral Bruat in Colmar is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Bartholdi, inaugurated on August 21, 1864. She paid tribute to Armand Joseph Bruat (1796–55), a native admiral of Colmar, who died at sea after a career marked by colonial exploits. The monument, commissioned by Mayor Hercules of Peyerimhoff, was financed by the bronze of cannons captured by Bruat. The statue, listed as a historical monument in 1946, stands on the Champ-de-Mars, surrounded by a pink sandstone basin of the Vosges and allegorical figures representing the continents explored by the Admiral: Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.

During World War II, the statue was overthrown by the German authorities on September 9, 1940, along with the statue of the nearby General Rapp. After the Liberation, it was restored in 1958 by architect Michel Porte and sculptor Gérard Choain, but the original heads of the missing allegorical figures were replaced. The original heads are now preserved at the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar. The base bears inscriptions recalling the military campaigns of Bruat, such as the capture of Sevastopol or its expeditions to the Marquesas Islands.

An historic feature links this monument to Albert Schweitzer: the head of the allegorical figure representing Africa would have inspired his vocation as a doctor in Africa. Originally, the monument included a fountain whose water sprang from the mouths of four marine monsters, a detail that was now gone. The architectural part of the base was designed by Michel Porte, while the statue itself, 3.1 metres high, remains a symbol of local pride and the French colonial heritage.

Classified as historical monuments since 7 August 1946, the statue (excluding its base) is the property of the commune of Colmar. It reflects both Bartholdi's talent, a Colmarian sculptor known worldwide for the Statue of Liberty, and Alsace's turbulent history, marked by Franco-German conflicts. The monument, restored after the destruction of the war, continues to dominate the Champ-de-Mars, recalling the maritime and military past of the region.

External links