Caserne Chambière

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King Johann barracks / Caserne Chambière. On the right is the path to the Diedenhofener Tor.
Plan of the barracks according to Prussian garrison documents with the current situation.

The Caserne Chambière , also: Caserne Saint-Jean (during German use: König Johann-Kaserne ), was a barracks on the Île Chambière northeast of the city center of Metz , which was built in the 18th century as a cavalry barracks.

Historical

King Louis XIV recognized the strategic importance of the small town of Metz and commissioned his fortress builder Vauban to examine the possibility of building a fortress. Vauban's visit in 1675 led him to say:

"Les autres places du royaume couvrent la province, Metz couvre l'État"

"The other places of the kingdom protect the province - Metz protects the state"

Work on his plans began in 1676 and was completed between 1728 and 1749 by his pupil Louis de Cormontaigne , Maréchal de camp and director of the fortresses. In order to be able to occupy the fortress Metz with troops, the building of barracks had become inevitable. The Bishop of Metz Henri-Charles de Coislin then decided to have two barracks built in order to alleviate the troubles of the citizens of Metz that were initially caused by billeting.

Construction and location

The Caserne Chambière was built between the years 1730 to 1736 on the so-called death field of Chambière. The name death field was derived from the fact that the house de la Cour-aux-Gelines was located here until the 15th century, where victims of the plague were taken in and cared for.

At the time of construction, there was a gun yard behind two bastions of the city wall between the Port Pontiffroy and the Moselle. The open area facing the wall was called “Place Chambiére”, which later became the barracks street “Rue des Fumiers”.

The barracks consisted mainly of two parallel blocks, over two hundred meters long, which were designed to accommodate both infantry and cavalry. The installation of a sufficient ventilation system in the floors was progressive for the time. They were along Kasernenstrasse (rue de la caserne). Today the Boulevard du Pontiffroy leads from the Pont des Grilles (lattice bridge) through the former barracks area to the Port Pontiffroy (Diedenhofener Tor), which at this point led through the city wall. On an area parallel to the twin buildings, the German military administration erected further buildings which are now called Caserne Séré-de-Rivières and which together with Caserne Thomassin form a closed complex.

use

After Alsace-Lorraine fell to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War , troops were immediately transferred to Metz. The "Caserne Chambrière", now named after "King Johann", was used by the greater part of the royal bay. 8th Infantry Regiment used, which remained there with its replacement troops until 1918. In 1919 the property returned to France and was given its original name.

In 1946 the French state gave the city council of Metz the Chambrière Caserne, the Quartier de cavalerie du Fort Moselle (Cavalry Moselle barracks), the Caserne d'infanterie du Fort Moselle (Moselle infantry barracks) and the Caserne Féraudy (barracks at the German Gate ) the Hôpital militaire de Krien, (the former military hospital on Fort Mosel), the Prison militaire (military prison) and the Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains de Metz church were offered for conversion and accepted by them. The two accommodation blocks were demolished and built over with residential buildings, only the two main portals have been preserved and have been on the list of historical monuments in France since October 24, 1929. The stables, coach houses and other buildings that are now separated from the accommodation area by the Boulevard du Pontiffroy (which did not exist at the time) are still there and are still used by the military.

literature

  • JJ Barbé: Les sculptures de la caserne Chambière . In: Les Cahiers lorrains , 1925, pp. 162-164.

Web links

Commons : König Johann Kaserne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ René Bastien: Metz devient une ville fortifiée . In: Histoire de la Lorraine , 2e trimestre 1998, Éditions Serpenoise, Metz, ISBN 2-87692-088-3 , pp. 155–159, 224 pp.
  2. ↑ means fixed places, i.e. fortresses
  3. ↑ complete: Henri-Charles du Cambout, duc de Coislin
  4. ^ Jean-Balthazar de Bonardi du Ménil: Mémoires (1760-1820) . Paris 2001, p. 252.
  5. ↑ Johann (Saxony)
  6. ↑ today fire station
  7. ^ François Reitel: Metz, Capitale de la région lorraine: Une difficile réinsertion dans la communauté nationale , (dir. François-Yves Le Moigne), "Histoire de Metz", private, Toulouse 1986, pp. 403-404
  8. ↑ Entry no. PA00106814 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Coordinates: 49 ° 7 ′ 31 ″  N , 6 ° 10 ′ 44 ″  E