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Photo, Print, Drawing Chateau-Thierry Monument, Route du Monument , Chateau-Thierry, Departement de l'Aisne (France), FR Aisne-Marne Memorial

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS US-4  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Chateau-Thierry Monument, Route du Monument , Chateau-Thierry, Departement de l'Aisne (France), FR

Other Title

  • Aisne-Marne Memorial

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Cret, Paul Philippe
  • U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA)
  • U.S. Department of War
  • U.S. American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
  • Lahalle & Levard
  • Dumont & Besson
  • Dernis & Berson
  • Bottiau, Alfred-Alphonse
  • L. Raynaud
  • Fevre & Co.
  • Barillet, Louis
  • E. Laperlier
  • P. Haegel
  • Certoux, Charles
  • Service des Ponts & Chaussees
  • Moser & Fils
  • Lavoie, Catherine C., historian
  • American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), sponsor
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  war (World War I)
  • -  monuments & memorials
  • -  Classical Revival architectural elements
  • -  Art Moderne architectural elements
  • -  architectural sculpture
  • -  temples
  • -  commemoration
  • -  France--Departement De L'Aisne (France)--Chateau-Thierry

Latitude / Longitude

  • 49.041978,3.371442

Notes

  • -  Significance: Chateau-Thierry Monument was built between 1928 and 1930 under the auspices of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) as one of three "commemorative" monuments to World War I. It honors the services of the American Expeditionary Forces and the French Army, and the friendship and cooperation between the two, in the critical operations of the Aisne-Marne region. The monument was designed by renowned architect Paul Philippe Cret, who is further distinguished by his service as Consulting Architect for the ABMC's World War I design program. Cret's national reputation as a civic architect in the Beaux Arts tradition, French heritage, and war service made him ideally suited to the task. The ABMC found particularly appealing Cret's austere, modern interpretation of Classical design, which was deemed more appropriate to the American experience. The Chateau-Thierry Monument represents the ABMC’s use of classically inspired architecture to place America's World War I battle victories in the context of important events in world history and to employ architecture as a symbol of international diplomacy abroad. Chateau-Thierry Monument takes the form of a minimalist, free-standing, classically inspired double colonnade. It rests on an expansive terrace overlooking the town of Chateau-Thierry and is ornamented by commemorative inscriptions and by sculptural allegorical figures of the American eagle and of America and France joined in friendship. The colonnade has been employed as an important architectural motif since Greek antiquity, and indeed the design of the Chateau-Thierry Monument is reminiscent of the Greek stoa. The most fundamental of Greek architectural forms, the stoa is a colonnaded structure providing a protected space for civic, mercantile, and commemorative purposes. However, in Cret's own interpretation of Classical forms, which he refers to as "New Classicism," the monument is stripped of its traditional details and reduced to its basic form. According to Cret, while inspired by Greek architecture the Chateau-Thierry Monument is not a proper "archeological adaptation," but reflects instead "the spirit of our own times." Cret is considered the primary proponent in the United States of what is now referred to as Stripped Classicism, which he believed could "bridge the end of Beaux-Arts historicism and the rise of modernism." The monument is among the first of Cret's designs to realize the full development of this aesthetic. It is silhouetted against the crest of a hill in a picturesque setting that Cret likened to that of a Greek theater, rendering it a highly visible component of the commemorative landscape of the Aisne-Marne region. The Aisne-Marne Offensive during the late spring and summer of 1918 marked a significant turning point in the war in which the French and American forces drove the Germans from the region. Empowered by their recent defeat of the Russian army, the Germans planned to launch major offensives in the west, overwhelm the Allied forces here and proceed to Paris. They made a surprise attack along the Aisne River on May 27, advancing rapidly towards the Marne while driving a deep salient into Allied territory roughly defined by Reims, Chateau-Thierry, and Soissons. Although initially gaining ground, the German Army was ultimately unable to achieve victory. The American 2nd and 3rd divisions successfully halted their progress on the front lines, while the 3rd and 28th divisions fended off the last German offensive on the western salient on July 15-17. On July 18, a major Franco-American counter-offensive was launched against the whole of the German salient. The Allied forces made critical advances, including a victory at the famed Second Battle of the Marne, in which the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 26th, 32nd & 42nd divisions of the American Expeditionary Forces played a prominent role. By August 6, the enemy was driven beyond the Vesle River. The region was finally restored to French control following desperate fighting along and north of the Vesle in which the 4th, 28th, 32nd & 77th American Divisions and parts of the 3rd & 93rd participated. The locations of the most critical battles are inscribed on the face of the monument. The German Army was forced to retreat eastward toward Oise-Aisne, Meuse-Argonne, and eventual surrender. Chateau-Thierry Monument honors the joint French and American Aisne-Marne offensive through the allegorical liberty figures of Marianne and Columbia respectively; it is the only one of the three commemorative ABMC monuments to honor that joint cooperation in such a manner.
  • -  Survey number: HABS US-4
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1928-1930 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1947 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 2016 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Data Page(s): 90

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS US-4

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • us0016

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • pdf

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Paul Philippe Cret, U.S. Commission Of Fine Arts, U.S. Department Of War, U.S. American Expeditionary Forces, Lahalle & Levard, Dumont & Besson, et al. Chateau-Thierry Monument, Route du Monument , Chateau-Thierry, Departement de l'Aisne France, FR. Thierry France Chateau Departement De L'aisne, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/us0016/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Cret, P. P., U.S. Commission Of Fine Arts, U.S. Department Of War, U.S. American Expeditionary Forces, Lahalle & Levard [...] American Battle Monuments Commission, S. (1933) Chateau-Thierry Monument, Route du Monument , Chateau-Thierry, Departement de l'Aisne France, FR. Thierry France Chateau Departement De L'aisne, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/us0016/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. Chateau-Thierry Monument, Route du Monument , Chateau-Thierry, Departement de l'Aisne France, FR. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/us0016/>.