Musée de la Pompelle

Tél : 33/03 26 49 11 85

Bureaux de la Conservation

Tél : 33/03 26 85 23 26

Bureaux de la Conservation
53 rue Simon
51100 REIMS

The Fort of La Pompelle was built from 1880 to 1883, to complete the Reims fortified belt put up by General Séré de Rivières after the 1870 war.

History

Of secondary importance, its purpose was to reinforce the main forts of
Witry-les-Reims, Nogent, l’Abesse, Berru, Brimont, Saint Thierry, Fresnes
and Montbré; covering 2.31 hectares, its artillery included six short 155mm
guns – model 1881 – of the Bange system and four 138mm guns, to which had
been added flank supporting equipment and machine guns.
A company of 277 artillery men was garrisoned in the Fort.

During the First World War, the site was badly affected by German shelling over four years, which could not overcome the tenacious resistance by successive French troops.
The ruins of the Fort, which were abandoned for 40 years, were offered for sale by the Administration of Domains in November 1955; but due to the emotion this aroused among the ex-servicemen of Sillery,

the André Maginot National Federation bought the Fort and then offered it, for a symbolic price of one franc, to the city of Reims.
Jean Tattinger, then Deputy Mayor, wrote on 11 November 1968: “The City of Reims, in gratitude for the sacrifice made by thousands of its defendants, has decided that this sacred soil will from now on be part of the City's heritage. The name of the Fort of Pompelle deserves to be engraved forever in the history of our country.”

The Museum
With the help of documents of the time, everyday objects in the trenches, arms and equipment, parts of uniforms, lifesize figures and artillery pieces, the rich collections in the museum, owned by the City of Reims, evoke the stages in the fighting for the heroic defence of Reims.
The Fort of La Pompelle, disarmed since 1913, was occupied by German troops without fighting on 4 September 1914; after the victory of the Marne, it was bravely recaptured by the 138th infantry Regiment on 24th September. From
then on it was the pivot of defence in the Reims sector.
For more than four years, the German army continually assaulted the Fort, without success: infantry attacks, intense shelling, gas attacks, mines,
tank attacks.

Taking turns, 180 regiments took part in the defence of the Fort, including two special Russian brigades sent by the Tsar Nicolas II in 1916!.
The National Marine also took part with the gunboats anchored on the canal between Sept-Saulx and Courmelois. Finally, General Mazillier's 1st Colonial Army Corps covered itself with glory in 1918. As well as the Reims garrisons
of the Belle Epoque, the visitor can see more particularly the famous French 75 field guns, a room devoted to ”Les Crapouillots” trench mortars, memorabilia of the Russian Expeditionary Corps in the Champagne area, as
well as those of the French flying fighter ace, René Dorme, to whom 23 confirmed victories were credited and who met his end above the Fort de la Pompelle on 25 May 1917; lastly, there is the remarkable collection, unique
in the world, to admire, of 560 headgear of the Imperial German army (the collection of Charles Friese) and many other objects.