Statues - Hither & Thither

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Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle
Vosges
Lorraine

Route du Ballon d'Alsace

René Pottier

Moret-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne, 1879 - Levallois-Perret 1907
French racing cyclist, winner of the 1906 Tour de France
(Wikipedia)

1907/2006

Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle / René Pottier

Description

Stele with text and a photo of Pottier.

Inscription(s)

Dans le
TOUR DE FRANCE
Course Annuelle de 5000 Kil.
organisée par l'AUTO.
RENÉ POTTIER
1879-1907
arriva premier en cet endroit
en 1905-1906,
après avoir soutenu, dans l'escalade
du Ballon d'Alsace, une vitesse moyenne
de 20 Kil. à l'heure et dépassé tous
ses adversaires.

Annotation

On 25 January 1907 Pottier committed suicide by hanging himself on his bike hook after hearing his wife had found a lover while he was away at the Tour de France. A few weeks later, Henri Desgrange, patron of the Tour, erected a stele in his memory at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace.

The photo is added on 25 June 2006 at the 100th anniversary, and after 2009 the monument is moved to a differen place (on older photos the stele stands on a slope in the grass).

Ballon d'Alsace

There are four four monuments on the Ballon d'Alsace, where three departments meet:

Notre Dame du Ballon, in Haut-Rhin (almost on the border with Territoire de Belfort).
Memorial for René Pottier, in Vosges
Jeanne d'Arc, in Vosges (maybe 5 meters from the border with Territoire de Belfort).
Monument en mémoire des démineurs, exactly on the border of Vosges and Territoire de Belfort

Here is a interactive map.

Sources & Information

Vallée de la Doller, Ballon d'Alsace.
Ballon d'Alsace, L'effigie de Pottier posée sur la stèle au Ballon aujourd'hui.

Locatie (N 47°49'14" - E 6°50'4") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: frlo148; Photograph: 15 April 2012
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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