Castle of Chenonceau
Château de Chenonceau
Chenonceau, hôpital militaire de 1914 à 1918 by Photographie: Dominique Couineau, 2014.Castle of Chenonceau
From 1914 to 1918, Château de Chenonceau served as a military hospital.
This dedicated area in the "Gallery of the Domes" pays tribute to the memory of all those who helped care for more than 2,250 wounded during the four years of the Great War.
Gaston Menier, Senator of Seine and Marne, then owner of Chenonceau, decided to participate in the national effort and proposed to the Ministry of War to convert the castle into a temporary military hospital, at his own expense.
One hundred and twenty beds were installed in two the galleries on the Cher.
His daughter-in-law, Simone Menier, wife of his son George, and matron-in-charge, administered the hospital, cared for the wounded and actively collaborated with the physicians and surgeons on site, until the the establishment closed on December 31, 1918.
When, on 2 August 1914, the conflict broke out, Gaston Menier, the industrialist owner of Chenonceau, was MP for Seine and Marne. True to his generous ideas and political commitment to the poor, he does not hesitate to respond to the national effort and offers his assistance to the Ministry of War.
The Menier Chocolate Factory supplied the armies and opened two military hospitals. One is located near Paris, Noisiel, headquarters of the Chocolate factory: it is a hospital that received casualties evacuated from the front lines, the other is at Chenonceau, where the seriously wounded are sent.
In this comfortable and very beautiful setting, the soldiers begin their recovery, both physical and moral. Those who are still able to do so indulge in the pleasure of gardening -- a large vegetable garden to vary the menus -- fishing, or simply walking...
On the ground floor again, a high-performance operating room is equipped with one of the first X-ray machines.
Chenonceau houses a military hospital, therefore the doctors and nurses' salaries, are assured by the state, but Gaston Menier and his family care for all the other expenses. He is assisted by his son George and daughter-in-law Simone, matron-in-charge and hospital administrator who actively assisted the physicians and surgeons detached.
2,254 wounded soldiers, most of them very seriously, would be cared for until December 31, 1918.
The Château de Chenonceau wants to thank Jean-Yves Patte, Alain Jamin and his family
who helped enrich this collection.
