Moncel Castle

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Entrance facade on the north side of the castle

The Moncel Castle ( French Château de Moncel ) is a Baroque castle in the south of the French commune of Jarny in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department ( Grand Est region ). It goes back to a medieval castle, but did not get its current appearance until the beginning of the 20th century. The property has belonged to the Jarny municipality since 1980, and the castle buildings have been used by various associations and organizations for exhibitions and events. The castle park is open to visitors all year round and entry is free.

history

A previous building of today's castle was mentioned as early as the 13th century. At that time it was most likely a fortified castle with a drawbridge protected by moats . Heinrich V , Count of Luxembourg , has been handed down as the owner for the year 1277 . The complex got its name from a later owner, the knight Guerrin de Moncel, to whom the castle belonged in 1288. His family kept it until 1342, when Count Heinrich IV von Bar became the new owner. But this did not remain lord of the castle for long, because three years later it belonged to Jean dʼApremont and Yolande von Bar. Further changes of ownership followed during the Middle Ages and the early modern period . Moncel belonged to Pierre de Moncel in 1378, Jean de Jaulny in 1536, Jean Clément de Doncourt and Hubert de Dieulx in 1565, Antoine Bertrand d'Amermont in 1625 and finally a member of the Filquemont family in 1666. In 1724 the estate was owned by the Count of Gournay.

The plant survived the French Revolution unscathed. In 1822, the large landowner Émile Jean Didier Bouchotte acquired the meanwhile dilapidated property and began to rebuild. He not only repaired ruinous buildings, but also recultivated the associated 400  hectares of land. When Bouchotte's interests turned away from agriculture and turned to politics, he sold Moncel to Henri de Redon in 1831. He increased the property by buying land and buildings in the neighborhood. Around 1905/1906, Henri's grandson had radical changes made to the residential building of the castle ( Logis ) and two short side wings were added to the front of the building, which had been rectangular until then. This gave it its current appearance, which is inspired by the architecture of the Palace of Versailles and Place Stanislas in Nancy .

Paul von Hindenburg's visit to Moncel Castle in June 1917

In 1909, the heirs of the de Redon family sold the castle to Schneider & Cie., Which operated an iron mine in Droitaumont, just a kilometer away. The logis subsequently served as an apartment for the mine directors and engineers. During the First World War , German troops occupied the property near the Franco-German front on August 23, 1914 and used it as the headquarters of Army Department C and as a hospital , which was housed in the castle cellar. During the time of the occupation, the German Emperor Wilhelm II paid a visit to the palace on September 21, 1915, as did the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, Paul von Hindenburg , who was a guest there in June 1917.

After the iron mine closed in 1967, the castle stood empty for a while before it was put up for sale. In December 1979 it became known that a sect was interested in the property, whereupon people's representatives tried to prevent the sale. Finally, the Jarny municipality acquired the castle and its adjoining park on May 28, 1980. Investments of around 180,000 euros followed to secure the buildings of the complex and make them usable. For several years now, the “Maison de l'Environnement” has been housed in the castle buildings, which various youth and environmental organizations as well as schools and other institutions use for exhibitions, workshops, conferences, teaching events, celebrations and similar events.

description

The palace complex consists of a main building for manorial residential purposes and farm buildings with the former pigeon tower , which are located northeast of the residential building. A landscaped castle park adjoins the buildings to the south .

The three-wing main building consists of the three-story middle wing and two-story side wings in the east and west. All tracts are closed off by a flat hipped roof covered with slate . The middle part of the building is divided into five axes by windows , the lower side wings each have only three window axes. The ground floors of the masonry of limestone are rusticated and have arched windows . In contrast , the upper floors have large rectangular windows with carved gables . The center of the building is particularly emphasized by a risalit , which is closed off at roof height by a round arched gable with the coat of arms of the de Redon family. On it sits a stone group of figures as an allegory of the family. The main portal of the castle is located on the ground floor of the central projectile. It is flanked by double columns that support a narrow balcony with a stone balustrade . Balustrades also rise above the eaves of the three wings of the building, and their corners are filled with putti and flame pots .

Inside the castle, an artistic curiosity has been preserved in its cellar: frescoes in the form of animals and fantasy figures, but also floral patterns. They have adorned the walls and vaulted ceilings there since 1915, when an artistically gifted adjutant of the German army decorated the basement rooms, which were used as a hospital at the time, with his paintings. The elaborately designed are equally receive wall and ceiling paintings in the castle chapel , the device goes back to the fact that once the pastor of Conflans-en-Jarnisy the basic rule exercised over Moncel.

Madonna in the castle park

The landscape park adjoining the castle covers an area of ​​17 hectares. It was created when Émile Jean Didier Bouchotte was lord of the castle and was changed again by Henri de Redon. Today, winding paths run through the castle park, which is equipped with three ponds, an artificial island and an artificial grotto. The municipality of Jarny has gradually and carefully transformed it into a recreation and leisure area since it was bought in the early 1980s. Playgrounds, a beach volleyball field, a mini golf course and a small soccer field have been created. In the castle park there is a statue of the Madonna , consecrated in 1892 by the Bishop of Nancy . Cavities in the rock on which the Madonna stands were originally intended to temporarily hold the coffins of war victims from the First World War. Today, however, they are walled up.

literature

  • Jacques Guillaume, Marie-France Jacops: Jarny. Château de Moncel. In: Yvan Christ (ed.): Le Guide des châteaux de France. Meurthe-et-Moselle. Hermé, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-86665-012-3 , pp. 73-74.
  • Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. (= Jarny Patrimoine. No. 2). Jarny municipal administration, Jarny September 2016 ( PDF ; 601 kB).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Information about the castle park on the website of the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France , accessed on October 5, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 2.
  3. ^ Jacques Guillaume, Marie-France Jacops: Jarny. Château de Moncel. 1985, p. 73
  4. ↑ a b Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 4.
  6. ↑ Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 6.
  8. ↑ Entry of the castle in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  9. ↑ Jacky Zanardo (Ed.): Le Domaine de Moncel. D'here à aujourd'hui. 2016, p. 9.
  10. ↑ Entry of the castle park in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 51.7 "  N , 5 ° 53 ′ 26.7"  E