Champ de Mars
The Champ de Mars (Ger. Field of Mars ), also known as Parc du Champ de Mars is designated, originally for military and later repeatedly used for exhibition purposes large green area of today 24.3 ha in the 7th arrondissement of Paris . At its northwestern end, not far from the Seine , rises up as a relic of the World Exhibition of 1889 , the Eiffel Tower ; in the southwest it is separated from the École Militaire by Place Joffre and Avenue de la Motte-Picquet .
To the north of the Seine, the park continues in the gardens of the Trocadéro .
history
The area, which was used for agricultural purposes until the 18th century, was expanded as a parade ground after the École militaire was built (1765) . For this purpose it was leveled and surrounded by a ditch and an avenue of elms. Its use remained purely military until around 1780. On July 14, 1790, the pompous "Reconciliation Festival " (French: Fête de la Fédération ) took place here as part of the French Revolution: Louis XVI. took his oath on the constitution read by La Fayette in front of 300,000 spectators . For this purpose, a separate "Altar of the Fatherland" was erected. On July 17, 1791, this was the scene of the so-called massacre on the Marsfeld . On June 8, 1794, the "Festival of the Supreme Being" (French: Fête de l'Etre suprême ), staged by Jacques Louis David and presided over by Robespierre , took place here .
The world exhibitions of 1867 , 1878, 1889, 1900 and 1937 used the site. The site was first used in 1798 for a national industrial exhibition. The fencing competitions of the 1900 Summer Olympics were held here. Most of the structural remains of the various exhibitions, such as a large ferris wheel , have been removed over time. In view of the enormous pressure to build, the Champ de Mars was acutely threatened by parcelling around the turn of the century, but massive protests by citizens' groups ensured that it would continue to exist as a green zone.
On March 30, 2000, Jacques Chirac inaugurated a wall of peace , which was designed by the artist Clara Halter and built by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte . It is located opposite the École Militaire .
For the first time after the world exhibitions in 1900 and 1937, the area at the foot of the Eiffel Tower was used for an event lasting several weeks in autumn 2012. The signing of the Élysée Treaty on January 22, 1963 was commemorated on the Champ de Mars . The United Buddy Bears exhibition in Paris in October and November 2012 was a reminder of the foundation stone of Franco-German friendship . "Only on the solid foundations of Franco-German friendship can we succeed in shaping today's world," said Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle - in line with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU .
literature
- Robert Schediwy, Franz Baltzarek: Green in the big city. History and future of European parks . Edition Tusch, Vienna 1982, ISBN 3-85063-125-7 .
Web links
- Paris info: Parc du Champ de Mars
- paris.fr: Parcs et jardins: Parc du Champ-de-Mars ( Memento of August 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Le Mur pour la Paix
- ^ Greetings from the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Guido Westerwelle, on the exhibition of the “United Buddy Bears” in Paris (PDF; 301 kB)
- ^ French embassy in Berlin: "Berlin Buddy Bears under the Eiffel Tower"
- ↑ United Buddy Bears in Paris, Video 2012
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 '22 " N , 2 ° 17' 52" E