Napoleonsbank Seebach on the D249 to Hundspach
From DeWiki > Benches in Alsace
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On market days, the farmers carried their goods in baskets or huts to the markets in the surrounding towns. To take a short rest, they sat down on benches and set down their goods. Trees planted near the benches provided shade.
There are two types of benches in Alsace:
those built in 1811/12, named after the Roi de Rome
those built in 1854, named after the Empress Eugénie
"Bancs-reposoirs du Roi de Rome"
On the initiative of the prefect of the French department of Bas-Rhin, Adrien de Lezay-Marnésia, the benches were set up in 1811/12 to commemorate the birth of Napoléon-François-Joseph-Charles Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte's son . In a letter to the municipal authorities dated April 22, 1811, he stated that these stone benches should be set up along the country roads and that shady trees should be planted behind them. The costs had to be borne by the municipalities. The Alsatians called them in their dialect the Nabele Bänk (Napoleonsbank, bancs de Napoléon); this designation is also common in the neighboring Palatinate.
"Bancs-reposoirs de l'Impératrice Eugénie"
Also on the initiative of a prefect of the Bas-Rhin department, Auguste-César West, stone benches were set up to commemorate the first wedding anniversary of Empress Eugénie, married to Napoleon III. This time the département covered the costs, so the municipalities showed more interest in putting up the benches.
More than 400 of these benches, made of Vosges sandstone, were built and a few dozen remain. In the 1980s they were added to the list of monuments historiques.