La Mémoire à fleur de peau
The Marne, a century of memory
The Marne was at the heart of the battles of the First World War, and even today, every site bears the scars of that war, still visible today, and high places of remembrance invite you to reflect.
Even today, the Marne bears witness to its determination not to forget, in particular through its impressive and unique memorial heritage. There are many sites to discover and learn more about our past.
Fort de la Pompelle, Monument de Mondement, Monument de Navarin, Mémorial National des batailles de la Marne à Dormans, Centre d’Interprétation Marne 14-18 à Suippes, Mont-Moret, remembrance sites in Argonne and numerous military cemeteries, the memory of the last century beckons and can be discovered as you visit.
THE MARNE 14-18, A CENTURY OF REMEMBRANCE
La Marne, the name of the two decisive battles of the Great War; the name of a territory that even today, through its deep scars, bears witness to the bitter fighting that went on there throughout the Great War, from 1914 to 1918.
Emblematic monuments and numerous cemeteries line the route of the old front. A multitude of nationalities are represented here, and the soil of the Marne region holds the largest number of military graves of any French department, with 164,145 soldiers’ graves.
The lost battalion
Come and enjoy a unique and captivating experience at the Suippes MARNE 14-18 Interpretation Centre!
READY FOR THE CHALLENGE?
Armed with a tablet, you have 60 minutes to find and save the men of the lost battalion. To do so, you’ll need logic, speed and cold blood.
Ages 12 and up ( 12 to 15 accompanied by an adult )
Wednesdays and Saturdays, in French only, by prior arrangement.
The Marne: a heavy toll from the “Great War
Four major battles took place on the Champagne front:
- The powerful French offensive of September 25, 1915,
- The recapture of the Moronvilliers massif in April/May 1917
- General Gouraud’s 4th Army thwarted the final German attack, the “FRIEDENSTURM”, on July 15, 1918.
- and finally the victorious Franco-American offensive of September 26, 1918, which liberated Sommepy and ended at Sedan on November 11.
Search for graves
It is sometimes difficult to locate the place where a soldier fell during the First World War.
MemorialGenWeb offers a comprehensive database, enabling you to efficiently search for graves (necropolises, military squares, isolated graves). It provides a breakdown by department and by commune of the memorial heritage of contemporary conflicts, and for each “Died for France” listed, an individual record.
This site, from the French Ministry of Defense’s Direction de la Mémoire, du Patrimoine et des Archives (DMPA), enables you to search for people who died in contemporary conflicts, using databases that can be consulted online.
