Discovery tour / What if Vauban had been gardener ?

You can call me Vauban

My name is Sébastian Le Prestre de Vauban – you can call me Vauban – and I’m here to teach you about the history of Huningue.
More precisely the history of the stronghold which I designed in 1679, commissioned by Louis XIV who wanted an iron ring around our borders.
And of course the city history after 1815, following the orders of Basel to demolish our ramparts which had become too threatening.
And then, and then… can you keep a secret?
You should know that being an army engineer wasn’t my only passion. Can you believe that as a child I wanted to become a gardener?!

You don’t believe me? Follow me for a walk into the heart of Huningue and I will show you my genius regarding botany, blossoming and even ecology.

History

In the footsteps of Vauban

Inaugurated on August 26, 1681 the day after only three years of building, the Huningue stronghold was reinforced from 1684 to 1687 with a bridgehead being built on the right bank of the Rhine and hornwork on Cordonniers Island.

A consequence of the Ryswick peace treaty, the latter were destroyed in 1698. The stronghold resisted to three sieges before it was also demolished after the Napoleonic defeats in 1815, in accordance with a clause from the Paris Treaty ordered by Basel. Therefore, “the Huningue fortifications were razed to the ground with no hope of being rebuilt or replaced by any other structures being less than three leagues from Basel.”
Nearly nothing was left from the ramparts built by Vauban as of 1679. The Place Abbatucci, which was once a parade ground, the garrison church or even the Adjutant-General’s office, which is home today to the local history museum are all legacies from a time when the heroes were called Abbatucci, Chancel or Barbanègre.
For shrewd eyes, there are numerous characteristics which show this was the former Huningue stronghold and reveal its long military past, including the trail “And if Vauban had been a gardener”, which retraces all its major steps.

Near my tree

“Lime trees… ATTEEEN-TION!” This is the Marshal speaking. The man who believes that parade grounds are designed to welcome soldiers and nothing but soldiers. No trees. But the garrison doesn’t exist anymore. So now it is up to Vauban the gardener… away with the parade ground! make room for trees!
The Place Abbatucci, thanks to the elegant renovation in 2013, has now been honoured with a new generation of lime trees, true to its image since the garrison left during the 19th century.
A little tip of the hat to History as I chose these lime trees in Germany, Tilia cordata ‘Rancho’, a summer-blossoming variety suited for urban environment. And if they order us to slow down, it’s just to better enjoy the shade and why not, even sit down on a bench and imagine what a military parade looked like at the time. At ease!

History

Sébastien Le Prestre, marquis of Vauban

Marshal of France, Sebastien Le Prestre, Marquis of Vauban (1633-1707) is famous for his skills in architecture, as a military engineer, a town-planner and even a hydraulic engineer.

He is less known for his human qualities which nevertheless were noticed by Voltaire who appreciated him for being “a model citizen, the only one perhaps who liked the State even more than himself.”

“I would prefer to keep a hundred of your majesty’s soldiers alive rather than kill a thousand on the enemy side.” Vauban to Louis XIV

This garden is both mine and Le Nôtre’s

We were both in good grace with the King! The King liked dear old André Le Nôtre for being a draughtsman of his parks and gardens, notably in Versailles. And I was liked for being the great defender of the kingdom’s borders upon which I built, or redid, many strongholds. What a shame that we never had the opportunity of working together since we were both very focused on detail and had the same interest in geometrical shapes!
This museum garden could have easily been the fruit of our joint efforts with the symmetrical flower beds, angular alleys and plant ornamentation, all inspired from French formal gardens.
From the main alley or the porch, or even from one of the alcoves which I imagined for my siesta, this little haven of tranquillity in the heart of the city unveils some lovely perspectives. Great for the troop morale, right?

History

Everyday life

At the end of the 17th century, the Huningue stronghold had three thousand inhabitants. It was based around several trades necessary for its activity, as well as having well-established social classes.

Butcher, tailor, shoe-maker, wig-maker, upholsterer-embroiderer…. The daily life of master-craftsmen had certainly nothing in common with notaries or surgeons but it was enviable all the same. Just like that of innkeepers who earned money from soldiers drinking away their pay to relieve their boredom when they weren’t crossing the border to teach how to handle arms or music.
The oldest Basel fife-playing association is actually of Huningue origin!
While the garrison kept the city alive, workers survived doing the most tiresome chores for master-craftsmen such as shop-keepers, masons, gardeners …

The Soldier Tree

No regrets when I say that planting flowers for beauty’s sake never crossed my mind when I designed the stronghold during the 17th century! My only obsession at that time was to create something functional to provide for the needs of men, and to secure the defence and counterattacks when enemy canons started firing away. But nature was already my ally at the time as the trees surrounding the fortifications formed a first sort of shield against the projectiles, simultaneously producing wood to build, to heat or to be used for basketwork.
No regrets either as once the walls fell down the trees entered the city, and even more today thanks to the idea of the landscaper Michel Desvigne, who decided to plant a thousand trees around a new public outdoor area from the Rhine banks to the Place Abbatucci.
An area “at peace” where trees replace soldiers, a magnified place where the garrison has become the King’s tree nursery!

History

Around the bridgehead

Around 1680, rumours of a coalition project with the European powers worried the general staff in Versailles. The King ordered a reinforcement of the fortification ring around the kingdom.

Deeming the Huningue outer wall to not be safe enough, Vauban undertook the construction of a bridge and a bridgehead to make the fortress more defensive.
The workers started in 1684 on the left bank of Cordonniers Island, then in 1686 on the right bank.
At the end of 1697, the Ryswick Treaty signed between Louis XIV and the Holy Roman Empire established peace for over more than a century in the region but stipulated the demolition of the works on the right bank of Cordonniers Island and of the bridge.

Basel only a stone’s throw away …

You should know that during the 17th century, Huningue had engraved in its cast-iron cannons, “Basel if you move, we’ll burn you down!” The city really had nothing hospitable about it with the soldiers all shut away in the fortification …
Today we can truly mock this past when we see endless pedestrians and cyclists of all nationalities strolling around the city, and along the river which presently brings the cities and mankind together.
Also affected by this change, the Rhine has been an inspirational source for many poets. With its banks planted like before with willow trees and other marsh plants – feet in the water and facing the sun – it has once again become the refuge for endemic species on the Île du Rhin, such as the elegant goldfinch, the song thrush or even the great tit which I’ve had the pleasure of watching, pecking within these flowered, overgrown meadows, which serve as copious open-air feeding grounds … ideal during the winter!

History

Huningue on loan

Pawned to Basel several years earlier by the penniless Habsburgs, Huningue became Austrian again in 1623 when the Archduke Leopold firmly asserted his rights to the Basel inhabitants who claimed the property as their own and didn’t want to sell it back.

The loan reimbursement and the promise of a financial compensation nonetheless dissuaded the Swiss from taking up arms.
Sold in 1638 to a banker who looked after the wages and the supplies of the imperial troops, Huningue became the barony of Grand-Huningue. This handover obliged the banker to pay damages to the heirs of Jean Conrad de Flachslander who proved they were already the owners: the Archduke Leopold has already sold Huningue to their ancestors as of 1623!
The Bale inhabitants then tried recuperating Huningue, at first in the name of the financial compensation which they had never received, and then by using diplomacy. In vain.
Losing this essential territory then became considered as a major loss as rumours were already spreading that Louis XIV was building some fortifications …

Flower power

Quite honestly, the ideal garden for me would be a little more chameleon-like with different flower varieties and colours for each season. But as a sensible gardener, just like for the hundred soldiers that I always preferred to save my king rather than take a thousand from my enemy, I prefer today to save the environment and the men rather than run out of our resources in the name of fashion.
With annual plants, which certainly inspire me, I wouldn’t chose as many whereas with perennials I can choose just as many simple and hardy plants for my flower beds.
Moreover these plants can resist all seasonal sieges, even the most difficult!

History

From the fortress to the canal: a new era

At the end of the 17th century, Vauban was already presenting the principle of a canal in Alsace, “a canal next to the river, separated by chambers and locks which could start at the end of Huningue’s fore-ditch and continue up to Strasbourg.”

The interest of a segment until Mulhouse – the Huningue Canal – wasn’t obvious however until the canal project of the Rhone to the Rhine, imagined in 1744 by Claude-Quentin La Chiche, a young officer from the Royal Engineering Corps. Although the objective of this junction of 28,086 km was to guarantee the feeding of the future canal, along with the Largue and the Ill rivers, it was immediately built between 1810 and 1833 with a navigable size and with locks.
It thus contributed to the flourishing of the Huningue port with all the traffic starting or stopping there as still unable to reach the Rhine lock. The towing then became electrified, making Strasbourg only four days away.

The drop in harbour activity after the Second World War anounced the downgrading of the canal for navigation, imposed by the commissioning of the Kembs-Niffer connection on the great Alsace canal in 1961.
The Huningue canal has since returned to its initial function of supplying water and earned the role of an ecological corridor, reinforcing the green infrastructure of this tri-national conurbation. The harbour wilderness has been transformed into the Parc des eaux vives, as a result of a reclassification operation finalised in 1993.

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Long live the queen!

I’m a weary-free traveller and know the rough country-roads and beautiful kingdom provinces down to the smallest hamlet. I’ve also experienced misfortunes and sometimes even famine due to decreased crops or from natural disasters, from what the lords and clergy took, and even from pillaging during wars.
Today agriculture has far better yields and feeds everyone. They say I’m a visionary… But I never imagined that bees which buzzed around our country-sides at one time are now being intoxicated and searching for refuge in our cities! Our productivity model certainly has some downfalls and among others, that of using way too many pesticides.
Standard-bearers of the little commonality of pollinating insects, bees excel at seeding pollen from flower to flower, thus safeguarding our food resources. We must protect them from poisons and preserve their environment. This is a new battle for me in our general interest… the king is dead, long live the queen!

Huningue – a water city

There was only water around Huningue during the fortification period. Clear water, running from Hégenheim along wooden channels or otherwise drawn out from the groundwater, an endless supply in the event of a siege. And of course river water which flowed up to the surrounding marsh area. Prone to fog, this water was a source of permanent humidity with an unhealthy atmosphere within the ramparts where air had problems circulating. It even caused respiratory problems and fever.
Today water is just as present in Huningue but in a more healthful and vigorous environment…up to these pretty little spawning areas in the Parc des eaux vives which reminds me the marshes way back when!

Source of inspiration

Ditches, underground canalisations… the art of fortifying also includes imagining hydraulic solutions, a science which fascinates me. To the point that I undertook countless and innovative preliminary studies for drilling canals or raising embankments, spillways, flood barriers and locks, not only for military means but to develop the waterways so as to promote trade within the kingdom.
But hydraulics can be rather complicated, especially when the King requested me to provide the water supply to the castle and park of Versailles by building the spectacular Maintenon aqueduct!
There is nothing of the sort like that here in Huningue except some pretty water jets which nonetheless reveal my passion for fountains and make young children squeal with delight!

History

Huningue, from one port to the next

In 1816, the commissioning of the Huningue canal and numerous abandoned barracks from the former stronghold – perfectly exploitable as warehouses – gave the idea to build a large harbour establishment, able to attract Basel businesses who wanted to use this terminus.

But in 1830, docks, cranes, and weighing scales were still lacking whereas exports towards Germany and Switzerland were on the rise, thus intensifying merchandise handling and customs controls.
Activity was still growing on the eve of the First World War thanks to canal renovation work which increased barge sizes from 200 to 300 tons. The port reached its heyday in 1935 with nearly 7000 boats travelling through.
But it was a short-lived prosperity, quickly overcome by the increasing competition with railways and from the building of lock n°1, allowing barges to reach Basel which was working on its own harbour development.

The creation of the new trade port on the great Alsace canal and the disqualification of the Huningue canal to navigation in 1961 definitely marked its end.

Fresh fish

I would have loved to have participated in this first fish-farm experience in Huningue where it made the art of fish-breeding into a science. I would have rattled my brain to repopulate all our waters with trout, salmon, graylings and other freshwater fish by sending full crates all over the country full of fertilised and ready-to-hatch eggs.
And the most beautiful specimens raised in my ponds of pure water would all have ended, not on the King’s table, but on those of the too-often undernourished French population!

Vegetable patches

Long ago, bread, spelt or wheat, wine (actually young and acidic plonk!), salmon, pike or eel, fished in quantities in the surrounding area, was the daily ration of soldiers in Huningue. Fairly good meat was also on the menu as well as top-quality fresh vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, peas, beans, various types of turnips …
The small vegetable gardens that I imagine today in each garden, on each terrace, basically in all the nooks and crannies of the city, would have also improved daily life at the time and avoided overwhelming nutrient deficiencies.
As today we are fully aware that eating vegetables is beneficial for the health thanks to their micro-nutrients so essential for our body.

History

Feeding a garrison when under siege

Even before the lack of food, malnutrition is the major enemy within a besieged stronghold as it jeopardises the health of soldiers who should be fighting. So any good strategist will therefore ensure that supplies are plentiful.

Made of trees

I closely followed the building, improvement and maintenance of the stronghold down to the smallest detail, with the same diligence that I use today to preserve the trees and check their phytosanitary condition. My new occupations lead me to carefully check each one from the top to the bottom. Sadly, I must sometimes pronounce a fatal diagnosis for one of these beauties which can be in the prime of life.
It always breaks my heart to see one of my comrades fall, whether they are on the side or standing alone. But rather than bestowing a posthumous medal, I quickly replant a young shoot to perpetuate the tree-filled soul of our city.

Abbatucci the brave

In June 1796, the command of Huningue was entrusted to a young brigadier general Jean Charles Abbatucci (1770-1796), already recognised for his brilliant feats of arms. Being that Huningue was a strategic gateway to France in Upper Alsace, the stronghold was quickly besieged by the Austrians. The general and his men resisted to thousands of assailants. Attempting a daring outing during the night of November 30 to December 1, the bloody battle continued with hand-to-hand combat. Fatally injured while defending the bridgehead, General Abbatucci died on December 2 at the age of 26.
A first monument honouring the memory of this Corse-born general from Zicavo, was built in 1801. Destroyed by the Basel population in 1816, it was rebuilt in 1830. It has sat in the centre of the Place Abbatucci since 1904, and was restored in 2013.

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Chancel the resistant

In December 1813, the colonel Jean-Hugues Chancel (1766-1834), commanding officer of the stronghold, refused the advantages offered by the Austrians in exchange for handing over this fortress. The enemy troops therefore attacked Huningue which courageously retaliated for three months.
This is the least known, but the longest and most horrendous of the three sieges suffered by the fortress.

Barbanègre the hero

Surrender of the Huningue garrison on August 20, 1815 – Edouard Detaille
In 1815, the mission of General Joseph Barbanègre (1772-1830) was to defend Huningue without complying to the summons of this adversary, the Archduke John of Austria.
At this point the stronghold was lacking in both supplies and men. For two months and with only 135 able-men, he resisted to the enemy assaults boasting over 20,000 men and their destructive bombings. He only surrendered after 12 days of trench combat and the abdication of Napoleon I, and was awarded all the battle honours.
The capitulation of the fifty or so heroic survivors, led by General Barbanègre, was immortalised around 1892 by the painter Edouard Detaille. Today the original painting can be seen at the Senate in Paris.

A reliable source

In the 19th century, the water tower witnessed an unscrupulous industrial era regarding water usage which was heavily consumed and polluted. Decades later, the catastrophic consequences made people very aware of the urgency to preserve this vital resource!
My fight is to raise collective awareness regarding the importance of protecting water, already by using a different garden know-how: banning nitrates and pesticides, using mulch instead of over-watering or recuperating rainwater which saves the groundwaters.
Many other daily habits can contribute to the healthy transmission of a common heritage which is becoming rarer but essential for the survival of future generations!

History

Huningue, an industrial city

In 1871, Alsace became German. With Huningue being no longer a border city, the garrison left, which had negative trade consequences, as the soldiers kept the businesses alive. The population slowly dwindled down to some modest workers employed in the Basel factories or on the right bank of the Rhine.

However, a few years later Huningue experienced rapid industrial growth helped by some favourable circumstances such as having Basel as it wealthy neighbour! But also the presence of large wastelands left after the demolition, the canal or even its endless water supply which industries used in quantity, explained this development.

Manufacturers slowly built up around the city, the latter selling off areas left over from the fortress remains at their profit. The pioneers were mostly branches of Swiss companies who wisely settled down here, enabling to enter the German market without paying the extremely-high customs tax which the Second Reich placed on imports.
Silk and watch makers as well as tobacco manufactures were among the major activities.
Life conditions progressed in a spectacular manner with improved sewer systems, gas-fuelled public lighting, then as of 1908 with electricity, which improved the life conditions of its 3000 inhabitants. The tramway even provided a direct ride towards Basel from 1910 to 1961.

You have my word on it!

I have always sought to facilitate the living conditions of soldiers and the poor, which has piqued my curiosity in many different fields. Don’t repeat it but I even became interested in the pork-business and actually calculated that the offspring of just one sow would be enough, after twelve generations, to feed the whole of Europe!

I thought that developing pig-breeding would have been a good way of improving the life of local farmers who were overburdened with taxes, debt as well as being undernourished.
It wouldn’t take much for me to be considered as the inventor of intensive farming but today I am in favour of small-scale farming, shorter supply chains and enjoy eating a good plate of lentils to get my proteins!

History

Remains of a demi-lune

The demi-lune (or ravelin) is a fortification structure thus called as initially it was more rounded.

Have an iron constitution!

Like in each border-town or fortification which I built, Huningue had a military hospital in the 19th century with 118 beds and where doctors and surgeons looked after the sick or injured soldiers. They also wanted to prevent the contagious illnesses and epidemics which were causing even more deaths than war injuries.
The operating techniques were simple and extremely quick to basically decrease the pain for lack of any real anaesthetics. The pharmacopeia was just as ludicrous: bruises from cannon-balls were treated with brandy and rubbed-on ammonia, and both brandy and wine were used against diarrhoea …
Therefore, ingenious fortifications and iron constitutions were really the best guarantee for soldiers to stay alive!

Life in movement

From taking one enemy city to another and from border to border building dissuasive fortifications, I must have travelled nearly 180,000 km in fifty years. A busy life. Completely different from my life today in my role as official gardener of Huningue! And with no regrets as these travels educated and enriched me, allowing me to meet many people from all walks of life, and it expanded my mind in many aspects. People call me a humanist. That’s a little exaggerated. I quite simply just like people!
In a certain way, I’m still in movement despite myself within this garden which is always changing… each day I marvel at these little nothings which weren’t here yesterday and which, in certain places, incite me to leave nature alone so that it can surprise me a little more tomorrow. And so my life continues to the rhythm of a garden in movement.

History

A taker of cities or a fortifier, Vauban developed his strategies with an unfailing determination to save the lives of the King’s soldiers.

Vauban the strategist

With his participation in 48 sieges in enemy cities, Vauban designed an unstoppable attack system and learned from this experience to build (30) or repair (130) impregnable strongholds.

Vauban, taker of cities

From fine strategy to the attack, he developed zigzagged trenches avoiding enfilade fire, and combined this with concentric parallels to inexorably get close to the besieged. In well-protected places there were cannons which covered the advancing soldiers and weakened the rampart through repeated impacts.

Vauban the fortifier

Intransigent in defence, he improved the concept of buried ramparts, buffer zones and bastions making all positions defend each other, having the crossfire eliminate any blind spots where the enemy could hide. He continued multiplying his ingenious ideas to make it even harder for assailants to succeed in their missions.

Huningue lifestyle – an example to follow!

I’ve never gone after medals or awards, which is just as well as I would have run out of breath long before being appointed Marshal of France by Louis XIV at 70 years old!
There is one though which I proudly display – my “four flowers” as it symbolises the best on the French label Villes et Villages Fleuris de France (Flowered Cities and Villages of France). A label which distinguishes more than just beautiful flowers. It also puts into perspective the promotion of our singularities, environmental respect or even maintaining social ties which are so important when embellishing the city.
But no need for a label to say that myself, Vauban, your faithful gardener, I love Huningue and its subtle art of opting for a quality life-style today and ensuring it remains this way for future generations. So yes, let’s follow the example of the Huningue lifestyle!