The monument to the Battle of Valmy is in its fourth major project. Rebuilt after the storm of 1999, it had its wings amputated after a storm in 2022.
The gusts of May 4, 2022 had taken away the wings of this oak colossus. But the building remains standing, carried by its symbolic charge. Deeply anchored in national memory, the Valmy mill will undergo a new restoration, testifying to the desire to preserve one of the first symbols of the Republic.
On its hill, about ten kilometers from Sainte-Menehould (Marne), the building is a symbol of the battle of September 20, 1792, during which the French army, commanded by Dumouriez and Kellermann, put an end to the invasion of the Prussian army threatening Paris. The next day, the deputies of the Convention unanimously decided to abolish the constitutional monarchy and the Ire Republic is proclaimed. « It is the symbol of the birth of the Republic. And it is our duty to rebuild it and give it back its wings. He has fallen several times and always got back up. », promised Thierry Bussy in May 2022, president of the association for the promotion of the mill.
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The assembly of the new wings should be done in June 2025. According to The Parisian the community of communes appointed, on December 12, the company Les Charpentiers de Troyes to manufacture the wing mechanism. A centuries-old oak, from the forest of Valmy, Braux Sainte-Cohière and Dommartin-Dampierre, should be used to make the motor shaft. « The forestry union will offer the tree to the association for the promotion of the mill. It’s a meaningful gesture and we’ll be there when the tree falls »declares Cédric François, the mayor of Valmy. The opening of a subscription with the Heritage Foundation should be launched in February 2025, in order to provide financial assistance for the project estimated at €300,000.
FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP
A fourth reconstruction
On the evening of the battle of September 20, 1792, French General Kellermann ordered the destruction of the building: the mill was set on fire because it served as a point of focus for the Prussian army. The building was rebuilt for the first time and temporarily regained its function as a flour mill. In the 20the century, after the Second World War, a new mill was built in memory of the great battle. To do this, we bring back an old mill from Attices, a town in the North of France. In 1989, as part of the commemorations of the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, the building was listed as a Historic Monument.
ALAIN JULIEN / AFP
Restored several times, the mill did not survive the passage of storm Lothar on December 26, 1999. Bruno Bourg-Broc, mayor of Châlons-en-Champagne at the time, submitted the idea of a subscription national for the reconstruction of the mill. The association for the reconstruction of the Valmy mill was then created.
The place has since been open to the public several times a year, notably in July and August where guided tours were organized. Since 2005, the historic center of Valmy, semi-buried, has been built into the side of the hill. It offers a 360° panorama, allowing you to observe the Argonne massif and understand the historical context of the battle thanks to friezes and exhibition rooms.