They could
have cleaned the statue of Rober Schumann (1886-1963), not the composer, the
statesman. Yesterday, September 4, was the 50th anniversary of his
death.
The statue
stands in a little park, Square Robert Schumann, close to his Paris home and close to what used to be the
NATO headquarters until 1967, when they moved to Belgium. (President De
Gaulle was not quite happy with the NATO organization.) Today the buildings are occupied by the Paris
Dauphine University. If the statue of Robert Schumann stands here it’s probably
because he was the one who signed for France, as Foreign Minister, when NATO
was created in 1949.
Robert
Schumann’s name is however more especially regarded as one of the founders of
the European Union. He was French Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister at several occasions during the first years after
WWII. Already in 1940 he was a minister until the Nazi occupation. He was
arrested, prisoner, but escaped in 1942 and joined the French Resistance. He
already then spoke about the Franco-German reconciliation. He was a major element
in the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which later in
different steps have led to what today is the European Union. His European,
especially Franco-German, involvement can certainly be explained by the fact
that he came from the Lorraine region, where he was born German and became
French after WWI.
The park is
rather small, but nice, of course especially a sunny summer day.
The park
has an immediate neighbor, another park, named after a French General who was
killed during WWI, Ernest Anselin (1861-1916), who also was War Minister for a
short while. This park, Jardin du Général Anselin, is quite different, to a large part in shadow even a
sunny day. Space to play and especially to sit down… but empty despite the
lunch hour.
10 comments:
encore une decouverte grace a toi, il est tres mignon ce square
I have heard of Robert Schumann but didn't know about the square at all and I never heard of Ernest Anselin at all! Nice discoveries! Thank you Peter!
Bonjour,
Je suis très contente de te retrouver après mes longues journées d'absence estivale...
Je suis heureuse de pousser la porte de ton blog et de découvrir cette dernière publication.
Un bel hommage à Robert Schumann. Il devait être très plaisant de errer dans ce parc inondé de lumière avec si peu de gens...
Merci pour l'ensemble de beau reportage.
Gros bisous
Why is it empty? It looks like a very nice park.
Starman: because nobody lives or works nearby, and because the massive Bois de Boulogne is just alongside! Meanwhile, in more populated parts of the city, kids are forced to play football alongside busy roads...
Looks like a charming park. And yes, very quiet...
What a beautiful blog!
I just fell in love with France (as you can see here: http://lasagnolove.blogspot.de/2013/09/ma-vie-en-france.html) and send greetings from Germany!
Love,
Bambi
Un joli rappel concernant Robert Schumann. Il est toujours bon d'avoir une vue d'ensemble de ces hommes qui marquent l'histoire, on se souvient toujours d'une chose mais additionnée d'autres faits cela impressionne souvent comme ici avec Robert Schumann.
I can see the leaves behind M. Schumann's statue already turning yellow...late summer in Paris is so romantic!
Your photos, as usual...superb.
Thank you, Peter.
Maria
I like to come to you blog and discover new places in Paris – well, they are not new – but new to me. Two lovely squares.
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