Sedan : German monument of the Saint-Charles cemetery

With the stabilization of the front, the year 1915 was marked by the construction of several monuments in the Ardennes, celebrating not only the strength of the armies of invasion, but also the sacrifice of the soldiers, sometimes of both camps. At the Saint-Charles de Sedan cemetery, the Germans decide to enlarge the space already occupied by a large collective tomb created in August-September 1914 and plan to erect the monument we are talking about here. A large wall surrounded the square where around 500 German soldiers rest. A massive inscription, now partially erased, adorns the pediment. It is a poem by Joseph von Lauff, translated here: "Fighting for the Emperor and the Empire, God has removed our earthly sun to us. Now, released from material things, its eternal light enlightens us. Sacred be this place, which you have honored by bloody sacrifices. Three times sacred for us because of the sacrifice of gratitude ”. The construction of the monument takes place from June to October 1915. It is the work of the architect Ludwig Lone and aroused great attention at the time. A double page is dedicated to him in the German journal Beilage Zum Champagne Kamerad of November 5, 1916, and many postcards are published. Doctor Gustave Kertz, German military chaplain and doctor of philosophy, left reflections in his memoirs, written in French in 1916: "I would bury him with his comrades in the cemetery of the heroes of Sedan" and further, "German art, German industrial genius have succeeded, despite the greatest difficulties, to build a monument worthy of their comrades, to its goal. They knew how to make the German cemetery of honor a place of solemn rest, completely distinct from what surrounds it. [...] ". This example underlines that this monument was already perceived at the time as a memorial for the war dead, rather than a tribute to the greatness of Germany or its Kaiser. The German monument of the Saint-Charles cemetery in Sedan, as well as its terrace and its access, is of interest because of its architecture inspired by antiquity, designed in a resolutely modern way in 1915. (http://le-souvenir-francais.fr/la-leter/le-monument-allemand-du-cimetiere-saint-charles-dedan/)