Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: E. Lemielle
Taken: 1919
Caption: Souvenez-vous! 1914. Rien d'Allemand!!! Des Allemands
Additional Description: Remember! 1914. Nothing German! Nothing from the Germans.

The poster depicts the burning of the cathedral, which was considered a war crime. The Library of Congress (this image courtesy of) couches the explanation of the burning in relatively neutral terms: The city of Rheims was shelled with explosives and incendiaries by the Germans during ten days in September of 1914 with the cathedral as the main target. Outraged, particularly by the attack on the cathedral, the government at Bordeaux sent an official protest. At the time of the shelling the cathedral was serving as a hospital with a red cross hanging from its tower. The Germans, however, believed it was also used as an observation tower by the French, hence the heavy and unrelenting bombing. The Germans had eyewitnesses who corroborated this story, but the French consistently denied it. The tracery, towers, and nave of the cathedral were heavily damaged, but the walls were still intact.
Submitted: July 29, 2015.
Database Locator Identification Number: p318857
File Size: 0.120 Megabytes

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