The Gambetta Monument

Next to the Maison des Jardies stands a spectacular monument in honour of Léon Gambetta. Designed by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, it features a multitude of symbols. Find out what they mean!

A Closer Look

A fundraising campaign by the people of Alsace and Lorraine

As early as 1889, Benedetta Leris, Gambetta’s sister, donated a plot of land adjoining the Maison des Jardies to the State so that a monument in memory of her brother could be erected there, funded by the Comité des Alsaciens-Lorrains. The necessary funds were raised from the people of the two regions, which had been annexed by Germany since 1871.

Designed by the Alsatian Auguste Bartholdi, the statue, inaugurated with great pomp on 8 November 1891, is above all a tribute to Gambetta’s role in organising the national defence, and a homage to the man who had never resigned himself to ceding Alsace and Lorraine to the victorious Prussians. His decision to stand as a Member of Parliament for Strasbourg, whilst Alsace was under occupation, is the most striking illustration of this.

Vue de dos du monument en hommage à Léon Gambetta
Hervé Levandowski - Centre des monuments nationaux

The solemn transfer of the heart

Another powerful symbol is that the monument housed the heart of the famous deceased in its plinth from its inauguration in 1891 until 1920.

In that year, it was transferred to the Panthéon, at the same time as the body of the Unknown Soldier was interred beneath the Arc de Triomphe, during a ceremony that symbolically united the ‘saint’ and the ‘martyr’ of the Republic.

Cérémonie du 6 novembre 1891 de dépôt du cœur dans le monument
Maison des Jardies / Centre des monuments nationaux

A statue rich in symbolism

The monument is particularly representative of the official statuary of the Third Republic, which was grandiloquent and allegorical. Powerful and solemn, Bartholdi’s work illustrates Gambetta’s determination; he is depicted solemnly clutching the flags of the two lost provinces to his heart. At his feet lies the imperial eagle.

Framing the plinth, the figures of Alsace and Lorraine, leaning against a votive altar, await their deliverance. Three Latin inscriptions – Pro Patria, ‘for the fatherland’; In clade decus, ‘honour in defeat’; and In luctu spes, ‘hope in mourning’ – encapsulate the symbolism of the work.

Among the many monuments erected in honour of Gambetta at the end of the 19th century, this is one of the few that still stands today, having remained unaltered. The supply of non-ferrous metals to Germany during the Second World War led to the melting down of the bronze statue in Nice, as well as the partial dismantling of the monument on the Place du Carrousel in Paris, which was completely removed in 1954. The monument in Bordeaux, which was removed in 1961 as part of an urban redevelopment project, has never been re-erected since.

It was listed as a historic monument in 1995.

Don’t miss the chance to go inside the monument during your visit to the Maison des Jardies!