Battlefields -- France -- Guidebooks; France -- Guidebooks; Marne, 1st Battle of the, France, 1914
In 1789, after the Prince of Condé had gone into exile, the Parisians
came and removed the cannon from the castle (see reproduction of
engraving below, in which the castle appears as altered by Mansart).
Thirty guns taken from the enemy during the Seven Years' War, which
were never used except for firing salutes during fêtes, were brought in
triumph to the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, whence La Fayette had them sent
to the arsenal.
The great cascades, the menagerie, the orangery and the theatre
disappeared during the revolutionary era.
Of the great castle nothing remained but the basement, whilst the town
grew and encroached on the park.
In 1814, the Prince de Condé returned to Chantilly and commenced the
restoration of the domain, a work continued by his son. The latter came
to a tragic end in 1830; he was found hanging from the fastening of a
window in his castle of Saint-Leu, and with him died the great family
of Condé.
In his will he bequeathed Chantilly to one of his great-nephews: Henri
of Orleans, Duc d'Aumale, fifth son of King Louis-Philippe. After
distinguishing himself in the Algerian campaign, where he carried off
the Smalah of Abd-el-Kader in 1843, the Duc d'Aumale was exiled in
1848. He established himself at Orleans House, at Twickenham, near
London, where he remained until 1871. It was during that time that he
began the splendid collections which later went to enrich the Condé
Museum. On his return to France he presided at the tribunal entrusted
with the trial of Marshal Bazaine.
[Illustration: THE PARISIANS AT CHANTILLY IN 1789]
[Illustration: PICTURE GALLERY WHERE THE GERMANS SLEPT (1914)]
In order to house his collections, the Duc d'Aumale had the big castle
rebuilt, on plans made by the architect Daumet, from 1875 to 1882.
He died in 1897, bequeathing to the "Institut de France" the domain of
Chantilly and the Condé Museum, of which he was the founder.
The Castle in 1914
About 500 Germans stayed at the castle for twenty-four hours. These
reserve troops had not yet fought and did not take part in the battle.
They committed no excesses during their short stay. The great moral
firmness shown by the curators, Messrs. Élie Berger and Macon had great
influence on the conduct of the German soldiers. The troops were lodged
in the big castle, whilst the officers established themselves in the
various suites of the small castle.
[Illustration: PICTURE GALLERY (1917)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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