in Meaux, a reconstitution of a trench to immerse yourself in the daily life of the furry

They are one of the best-known symbols of the First World War. One of the most poignant too. The trenches, these trenches of earth blocking the battlefields, have had a lasting impact on the collective imagination. Synonymous with hell for the soldiers and the bogging down of the conflict, they were a defense system against enemy artillery, but also the living space for the infantrymen, mired in an endless war.

To gain insight into the living conditions in these corridors dug in 1914, the Meaux Great War Museum is inaugurating an “immersive and educational” open-air trench in its park, covering almost 1,000 m2. “The museum already had two reconstructions of trenches, one French, the other German,” explains Johanne Berlemont, head of the museum’s conservation department. But it was not possible to browse them. We wanted to offer visitors the opportunity to wander between the lines to discover the complex organization. »

A terrifying no man’s land

From the entrance, the path leads to “descending” into the trench. If the tubes have been widened to allow the passage of wheelchairs, the reconstruction is intended to be as realistic as possible. Visitors move along a long ribbon of duckboards, reminiscent of those that covered the muddy quagmires. Along the way, they discover the shelters where the soldiers ate and rested, the aid station where they were taken care of before their evacuation to the rear, as well as the terrifying no man’s land, this wasteland ravaged by shells. separating them from enemy lines.

Sound devices in each space allow you to immerse yourself a little more in the daily life of the fighters. To deal with climatic hazards, polyester resin was used to reproduce the materials (sandbags, sheet metal, wooden planks, barbed wire, etc.) used to build, support or protect the trenches. A way of guaranteeing the sustainability of the site and, thereby, the persistence of the Great War in our memories.