Metz, France

Standing square in the middle of Europe’s traditional East-West invasion route and adjacent to the most heavily fortified city in Europe, the Chateau-les-Metz has seen at least five different nationalities during its long history.

From artifacts and other clues found in the area it has been established that there was a Roman villa on the site during the third century AD. The first recorded history, however, starts in the year 926 AD.

The first building on record, then within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Austrasie, was probably a pre-mediaeval manor with dungeons and walls well fortified against the attacks of rival states and marauding bandits. The remains of several such fortified manor farms are to be found on the back roads between Metz and Grostenquin.

During this early period, from about 511 to 855, Metz was the capital of the Austrasie Kingdom and the centre of restoration of Eastern Gaul. Later on it became one of the most important seats of civilization of the Carolingian Empire. But violent quarrels between the son of Louis the Debonoir (Louis the Meek) resulted in the Treaty of Verdun in 843 by which Metz was turned over to the Duchy of Lothaire under the name of Lotharingia (Lorraine).

Just after the turn of the 10^th century the feudal disintegration helped Metz to come into the control of the Bishopric and the city became an important asset to an earldom (923) forming part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Three years later the chateau became part of the feudal estate belonging to the Abbey of Sainte Glossinde under the regime of Theodore the First and Dietrich, Archbishops of Metz. The chateau was the seat of a High, Middle, and Low Court and was an annex of the Parish of Ars Laquenexy along with Aubigny, Charny, La Grande-au-bois, Jury and Marcilly, all in the same area.

As the growing aristocracy in Metz strengthened, the city freed itself from the Bishop’s rule and by the 13^th century Metz had fortified itself again against the attacks of rival states. In the confused struggle for power that followed, the chateau, then with the independent Republic of Paraiges, was besieged and in 1368 the village of Mercy-les-Metz was burned and sacked.

In 1404 the Chateau Mercy-les-Haut was granted as a feudal estate to the de Chaverson family (Paraiges) which tenure lasted for about 100 years. It was during this period while Jean II Chaverson was Squire of Mercy that the Chateau was burned by a troop of Luxembourgeois cavalry, in 1493. The Troop of 400 horsemen was led by a certain Bernard, principal Lieutenant of the Marquis de Bade, Governor of the Duchy of Luxembourg. The territory of the Republic of Metz was little respected by its neighbours as is illustrated by this looting expedition.

The town of Metz was officially at peace with the Duke of Luxembourg, then Maximilian of Austria.

In 1500 the Chateau became the property of Nicholas de Roncelz, Squire of Mercy and vassal of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1552, when Metz was occupied by Henry II, King of France, Charles-Quint, Emperor of Germany, made repeated attempts to take the city. During the final siege, which lasted for nearly a year, the village of Mercy-les-Metz was entirely destroyed and afterwards only the chateau and farms were rebuilt.

During the reign of Charles IX, 1568, the chateau and farm were rebuilt by Clauden Bertrand, Master Sheriff of Metz. In 1613 he was succeeded by his son, Jean Bertrand who assumed the title of Bertrand de Saint-Jure.

Until the reign of Louis XIII the property was still in the possession of the descendants of Bertrand de Saint-Jure. In 1626 the Chevalier John Bertrand de Saint-Jure built a chapel which still stands today. In 1665, during the reign of Louis XIV the chateau changed hands again and became the property of the family of Damon de Sainte Pe, which family held it until 1690.

In 1748, when Louis XV was on the French throne, the chateau was in the hands of the family de Bourdelois, the family of Saint-Jure having died out in 1744 with the death of Jean Baptiste who was not survived. The Bourdelois family held the estate until 1783.Jean Bourdelois came from a family of Algerian origin which settled in the Lorraine about 1730. Jean leased the ducal forges from which he made a considerable fortune and in 1739 he became French treasurer at the Metz office of Finance.

The families of Musac and Boudet de Puymiagre held title to the chateau during the latter part of the 18^th century, and in 1785 it was sold to a former officer in the Regiment of Poitou, Antoine d’Ecosse. The property passed on to Philip Mendell d’Ecosse, adopted by his uncle, Antoine, and in 1855 the holdings were sold by the Baron de Manell d’Ecosse to the Count de Coetlosquet.

The Germans entered Lorraine on August 6, 1870, after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and the French were defeated at Forbach. Napoleon retreated to the left bank of the Moselle river and he turned over the command of all troops stationed in Lorraine to General Bazaine, with orders to return to the province of Champagne.

Instead of obeying his order, the general, with 180,000 troops, withdrew into Metz, and after a siege surrendered the city to the Germans. During the siege the chateau was burned.

Lorraine, with its sister province of Alsace, was taken over by the Germans following the War of 1870, and the chateau remained in ruins until 1905, when it was rebuilt in its present form by the Vicomtesse de Coetlosquet.

During the intervening period, however, the area around the chateau’s site was the scene of extensive military activity by the Germans. Determined to hold the city of Metz, strategically located, and the surrounding province of Lorraine, against recapture by the French, the Germans continued the construction and expansion of forts built and begun by the French.

Part of this extensive defence system was the Ouvrage d’Ars in the woods behind the chateau. Pillboxes of this defence system can also be seen in the field behind the Officer’s Mess, and the junction of the Route de Strasbourg and the entrance road to the chateau.

A few years after the rebuilding of the chateau in 1905 it was sold to the state and it was used by the Germans during the First World War to house administrative personnel.

After the First World War, when the region was returned to France, the property was bought by a Swiss citizen, but passed shortly afterwards to the state. At the beginning of the Second World War the chateau was used by the French military service, and later on during the war as a German military hospital. Occupied at the war’s end by American forces, the chateau was used until 1952 as a holiday camp for children of French Army personnel.

In 1952 the chateau was selected as the main headquarters building for the RCAF Air Division. When the Canadians arrived from Paris in April, 1953, the 35 acre estate had four buildings on it; the chateau, in which renovations were nearly complete; the coach house which was tenable but in need of repair; the lodge at the entrance of the estate, which had no floors and virtually no roof, and the chapel which had been made weatherproof.

The park was overgrown with second growth trees and underbrush and the lawns were fields of tall grass. The present site of the new garage, originally the orchard, was practically impenetrable, and the present site of the officers’ quarters and combined mess was a dense area of trees and bushes. No fence separated the farm from the estate and cows browsed on the grass in front of the chateau while chickens foraged among the parked vehicles of the ME Unit.

Wherever the newcomers turned they found traces of former occupants. An old radar screen of German design was found among the weeds in the orchard. A Messerschmidt motor and part of a crashed aircraft were unearthed at the base of the water tower. Undulations in the turf on the terrace in front of the chateau indicated where the German graves had been, and on the roof was found a huge red cross on a white background which had proclaimed the building a hospital to attacking aircraft.

American K-rations, long since abandoned by their owners, lay decaying behind the chapel. German helmets turned up in odd places while mortar bombs and live and spent ammunition were found all over the property. On several occasions the Canadians deemed it prudent to call on the expert services of the French demolition squad from Metz to remove an offensive projectile of unknown potentiality.

The newcomers picked souvenir pieces of shrapnel from the pitted corners of the main building, and marveled at the huge pieces of concrete that littered the estate, flung there by the explosion of Ouvrage de Mercy. They traced the roads and hut formations in the overgrown POW camp north of the estate and came home with torn clothes from the barbed wire which still lay coiled on two sides of the compound.

Later on while digging a grease pit in the floor of the ME Section, airmen became increasingly interested as successive layers of earth and rubble were removed. At least three distinct types of stone construction appeared, all from different eras, climaxed by a flight of stone steps which led away into the earth. The airmen had to finish the grease pit before their archaeological curiosity was satisfied.

This detail was provided by Roy (Slim) Jennings for use on the Pinetree Line web site in October 1998. Roy served a tour at SU Metz (61 AC&W Squadron) between 1959-1963. There is no indication as to the source of information or the time when this material was published. I am assuming that the material (a five page, English text document) was prepared by RCAF sources and distributed to military personnel who served a tour of duty in Metz. I further assume that this detail was prepared between 1956 and 1962 for distribution.