War memorials

France: Reims’ Monuments aux morts

Architect: Henri Royer, 1930
Location: Reims, France

Reims’ Monuments aux morts was built on an open site to the north-west of the old city in the Place de la République close to the Mediaeval fortifications and the Roman Porte de Mars. It is a stripped-Classical hemicycle constructed of reinforced concrete. Henri Royer won a limited competition held in 1924 and the monument was inaugurated in 1930. The flanking relief groups and the central free-standing bronze figure – clearly inspired by Rodin’s Penseur – was the work of the sculptor Paul Lefèvre. After the Second World War, a memorial to the Martyrs of the Resistance was placed axially with the Monument in the gardens framed by boulevards.

Gavin Stamp