Schloss Moncel: A Baroque Château in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page14 sections
History
Schloss Moncel is a baroque château in France, in the southern part of Jarny, whose origins lie in a medieval fortified site first mentioned during the twelfth or thirteenth century. The early estate was probably protected by moats and a drawbridge. Its present three-wing residence was created in 1905 and 1906, when an older rectangular building was radically redesigned in a style inspired by the Palace of Versailles and Nancy’s Place Stanislas.
Medieval Lords and Early Ownership
Henri V, Count of Luxembourg, was recorded as the owner in 1277. The estate later took its name from Guerrin de Moncel, a knight who held it in 1288. His family retained the property until 1342, while Gérardin de Moncel succeeded Guerrin in 1330.
Ownership then passed through a succession of medieval and early-modern families and individuals. Henry IV, Count of Bar, held the estate in 1342, followed by Jean d’Apremont and Yolande of Bar in 1345. Pierre de Moncel owned it in 1378, and Jean de Jaulny in 1536. In 1565 it belonged to Jean Clément de Doncourt and Hubert de Dieulx. Antoine Bertrand d’Amermont acquired it in 1625, a member of the Filquemont family held it in 1666, and the Count of Gournay owned it by 1724.
Rehabilitation and Nineteenth-Century Expansion
The estate survived the French Revolution without damage. In 1822, Émile Jean Didier Bouchotte bought the neglected property, repaired its ruined buildings, and restored the productive use of its 400 hectares of land. The General Council of Moselle recognized his efforts in 1824 by electing him to the Society of Sciences and Arts in Metz.
Bouchotte later turned from agriculture to politics and sold Moncel to Henri de Redon in 1831. Redon enlarged the estate through the purchase of neighboring land and buildings, including the Droitaumont mill and the Grange property. This expansion led to the construction of a small bridge in 1862 and was followed by the acquisition of the road alongside the park.
The De Redon Transformation
Henri de Redon’s grandson reshaped the residence around 1905 and 1906. The earlier rectangular building became a three-winged château, with the redesign drawing on the architecture of Versailles and Nancy’s Place Stanislas, an eighteenth-century monumental square in Nancy.
In 1909, the de Redon heirs sold Moncel to Schneider and Company, a French industrial enterprise involved in mining, metallurgy, and engineering. The company operated the Droitaumont iron mine about one kilometre away, linking the château to the industrial activity of the surrounding area. Moncel subsequently housed the mine’s directors and engineers.
First World War Occupation
German troops requisitioned and occupied the estate on 23 August 1914, during the First World War. The château became the headquarters of Army Detachment C, a German military command, and its basement was converted into a military hospital for service personnel and war casualties. Four guns were directed at the estate gates, while local residents were threatened with reprisals if they disclosed the German presence. The windows and shutters were consequently kept closed.
The occupied château received several prominent German visitors. Wilhelm II, German emperor and king of Prussia from 1888 to 1918, visited on 21 September 1915. Paul von Hindenburg stayed there in June 1917; at that time, he was a German field marshal who had become chief of the German General Staff during the war. Other visitors included the Crown Prince, heir to the German imperial throne, the King of Bavaria, and Prince Albert of Württemberg. The occupation continued for approximately three years, ending in 1918.
Municipal Ownership and Recent Conservation
After the war, Moncel again served as the residence of successive directors and engineers of the Droitaumont mine. When the mine closed in 1967, the estate stood vacant for a period and was offered for sale.
In December 1979, the possibility that a sect might acquire the property led elected representatives and local residents to oppose the sale. The municipality of Jarny purchased the château and adjoining park on 28 May 1980. About 180,000 euros were later invested to secure and adapt the buildings. Since the municipal purchase, associations, schools, and other organizations have used the complex for exhibitions, workshops, meetings, teaching activities, celebrations, and related events. It has also housed the Maison de l’Environnement, an environmental and educational centre serving youth and environmental organizations, schools, and other institutions.
A major heritage and ecological renovation project began in spring 2024. Planned over six years, it includes work on the interior and exterior facades and measures intended to improve biodiversity.
Remains
The estate is arranged around the principal residence, service buildings to the northeast, and a landscape park extending south of the château. The service buildings include the former dovecote tower, a structure designed to house domestic pigeons. The principal building and its park preserve the principal physical elements of the modern estate, while the basement, chapel, and park features retain evidence of its domestic, religious, military, and landscaped uses.
Principal Residence
Exterior Facade
The three-winged residence consists of a three-story central block and two-story east and west wings. Each section is covered by a shallow slate hipped roof, which slopes on all four sides. The central block has five window bays, while each side wing has three. Limestone masonry on the ground floors is rusticated, with strongly emphasized joints and projecting blocks, and contains round-arched windows. The upper floors have large rectangular windows topped by sculpted pediments.
A projecting central bay gives emphasis to the middle of the facade. At roof level, it ends in a round-arched gable bearing the de Redon family arms. A stone allegorical group representing the family crowns the gable. The entrance occupies the ground floor of this projecting bay, where paired columns support a narrow balcony with a stone balustrade. Balustrades also rise above the cornices of all three wings, with putti and flame urns at their corners.
Basement Frescoes
The basement contains frescoes, wall and ceiling paintings executed on plaster, showing animals, fantastic figures, and floral designs. An artistically gifted adjutant of the German army painted them in 1915, when the basement was being used as a military hospital during the First World War.
Chapel
The château chapel retains elaborate paintings on its walls and ceiling. Its furnishings are associated with the former manorial lordship of Moncel, a landholding jurisdiction that gave its lord authority over an estate and its dependent inhabitants. At Moncel, that lordship was exercised by the parish priest of Conflans-en-Jarnisy.
Landscape Park
Designed Landscape
The landscape park covers 17 hectares. Émile Jean Didier Bouchotte created it during his ownership, and Henri de Redon later modified it as he expanded the estate. Its designed features include winding paths, ponds, an artificial island, and an artificial grotto. Since the municipality acquired the property in the early 1980s, parts of the park have been adapted as a recreation area with playgrounds, a beach-volleyball court, a miniature-golf course, and a small football field.
Madonna and Grotto
A Madonna statue stands above the artificial grotto. Installed around 1892 in the estate’s former mausoleum, it was blessed by the bishop of Nancy and became a place of prayer for the estate’s Catholic owners.
Cavities in the rock beneath the Madonna were originally intended to hold temporarily the coffins of soldiers killed in the First World War in Lorraine. The cavities are now sealed with masonry.
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