Place Charles- of-Gaulle

History

The original name is ridges of Chaillot . Marigny had the project to level the hillock at the same time as it made replant on line the Fields-Élysées. The work, considerable, was completed in 1777.

The Star name is old and indicates a convergence of roads; what is called today the place of Star is at the 18th century a crossroads of hunting.

In 1787, during the construction of the Wall of the Farmers general, the barrier of the Star (still called barrier of Neuilly ) is arranged on the drawings of Claude Nicolas Ledoux to box the Octroi at the entry of Paris. Two buildings framed the barrier and are disappeared today. The barrier marked the limit of Paris and sound old (1795-1859) I {{er}} district corresponding to current the 8 {{E}} district and to the western part of current the 1 {{er}} district.

Construction in the center of the Place of a triumphal arch is completed in 1836 under the reign of Louis-Philippe Ier.

Under the Second Empire, the Place is redrawn by the architect Jacques Hittorff, under the control of the Baron Haussmann, which is prefect of the Seine starting from 1853, and which attempts to reorganize Paris. By decree of the August 13rd 1854, space surrounding the Arc and partly taken on a promenade of Chaillot is reserved for private mansions which remain still today. The gardens of these hotels are turned towards the place. These hotels are quite recognizable with their identical columns. Located “between court and garden”, these hotels comprise two wings framing the court open on a circular street open at that time. It is in correlation with the name of the surrounding avenues that the Parisian ones gave them at the time the name of hotels of the Marshals .

Description

Twelve large rectilinear avenues lead to this place and form a star. Since the north and in the direction of the needles of a watch:

Which occurred of Wagram since the Second Empire and before boulevard of the Star or boulevard Bezons
Which occurred Notch: which occurred of the Queen-Hortense under the Second Empire and boulevard Heap before
Which occurred of Friedland since the Second Empire and boulevard Beaujon before
Which occurred of the Fields-Élysées
Which occurred Marceau: which occurred Joséphine under the Second Empire
Which occurred of Iéna
Which occurred Kléber: which occurred of the King-of-Rome under the Second Empire and boulevard of Passy before
Which occurred Victor-Hugo: which occurred of Eylau under the Second Empire and which occurred of Saint-Cloud before
Which occurred Foch: which occurred of the Wood (of Boulogne) under the Third Republic and which occurred of the Empress under the Second Empire
Which occurred of the Large-Army since the Second Empire and which occurred of Neuilly before.
Which occurred Carnot: which occurred of Essling under the Second Empire
Which occurred Mac-Mahon: which occurred of the Prince-Jerome under the Second Empire

These twelve avenues form six axes:

axis which occurred Mac-Mahon and which occurred of Iéna
axis which occurred of Wagram and which occurred Kléber
axis which occurred Notch and which occurred Victor-Hugo
axis which occurred of Friedland and which occurred Foch
axis which occurred of the Fields-Élysées and which occurred of the Large army : it is the historical Axe of Paris
axis which occurred Marceau and which occurred Carnot

The place of Star (as well as the Triumphal arch) is shared the made-to-order of a cake between the 8 {{E}}, 16 {{E}} and 17 {{E}} districts of Paris:

8 {{E}}: sector delimited by the avenue of Wagram and the avenue Marceau
16 {{E}}: sector delimited by the Marceau avenue and the avenue of the Large army
17 {{E}}: sector delimited by the avenue of the Large army and the avenue of Wagram

The place is surrounded by two streets forming a circle around it: the Street of Presbourg and the Rue of Tilsitt which perpetuate two diplomatic successes of Napoleon and are the names given in 1864 to the circular street.

Taking seat between the Kléber avenue and the Victor-Hugo avenue, the street Lauriston constitutes a thirteenth way radiating around the Place but it stops with the street of Presbourg and thus does not come to disturb the harmony of the Place itself.

The paving of the roadway forms a star:

of the paving stones of a darker color forms triangles whose base is next to the central reservation and the point is directed towards each hotel of the Marshals;
in the same way, of the paving stones of a color drawing towards the red forms triangles which seem réécraser the precedents and whose point is directed towards the avenues which converge towards the place.

An underpass for the Automobile S makes it possible to pass directly from the avenue of the Fields-Élysées to that of the Large army.

Another underpass, the Passage of the Memory , is reserved to the pedestrians, and connects the quay level where is the Triumphal arch to the pavements of the avenue of the Fields-Élysées and the avenue of the Large army.

Events

With the angle of the Place and even numbers (with the n°156 which corresponds to the one of the hotels known as of the Marshals) of the avenue of the Fields-Élysées is affixed a plate indicating: “The November 11th 1940 in front of the tomb of the Unknown the students of France expressed in mass were thus the first resisted the occupant”.

The May 30th 1968 a great demonstration gathering nearly a million people goes up the avenue of the Fields-Élysées to succeed place of Star. All the leaders gaullists take part in it.

A terrorist attack takes place places Star the August 17th 1995 and makes 17 wounded. An explosive device is deposited in a metal dustbin near a newsstand. Nothing comes to point out the event on the spot, but the attack is to be located at the angle of the Place and the even numbers of the avenue of Friedland.

A name change made under the blow of the emotion

By the decree of the November 13rd 1970, the place of the Star changes name to become officially the place Charles-of-Gaulle . This decree made following the death of Charles de Gaulle, occurred the November 9th 1970 in its retirement of Colombey-the-Two-Churches.

Initially, they are Which occurred Fields-Élysées which must to be renamed, but it is finally Place (deprived of dwellings and of trade) which is chosen, without that putting an end to a polemic where the person of the de Gaulle general, who had left the capacity with the advertisement of the results of the referendum of the April 27th 1969, is not alone in question.

The polemic which swells leads to creation the December 31st 1970 of the " National committee of defense of the Place of Star - Sanctuary of the Unknown soldier and the Prestige of Paris in the monde" who, animated by Paul Antier, has as an main objective to make maintain the name original of Place of the Star .

Since this change of name, the elected officials of the Council of Paris enacted new rules: one cannot allot any more the name of a public highway of Paris to a person died since less than five years and one seeks not to run up against a face more the practices of the Parisian ones - as the name testifies some to the roundabout of the Fields-Élysées - Marcel-Dassault where Marcel Dassault is a recent addition. For their part, the persons in charge of the RATP have famous the station Star in station Charles de Gaulle - Star . It is noted that there remains small a street of the Star (17 {{E}} district) near the Place.

Moreover, the last bridge built in Paris (1994 - 1996) is the Pont Charles-of-Gaulle named by local by-law of the November 29th 1990. But it is located at the other end of the city compared to the homonymous place, since it connects the 12 {{E}} and 13 {{E}} districts.

A statue representing Charles de Gaulle going, signed Jean Cardot, is on the Place Clemenceau.

Undoubtedly it is necessary 50 years so that a new name enters the use to Paris: in 1995 the press titrated “Attack places Star” with a beautiful unit…

The official Nomenclature of the names of public and private highways published by the town hall of Paris (9th edition, March 1997) written place Charles de Gaulle and bridge Charles de Gaulle without hyphens.

Was the General of agreement?

In its work (see the Bibliography; page 315) Roland Pozzo di Borgo provides following testimony:

In 1968, police chief at the bicentenary of the birth of Napoleon in Corsica, I had imagined to change the name of the place of Star into Napoleon place. ''

It was necessary the agreement of the de Gaulle general for me.

It refused the project with the reason which one was not to touch in the name of the place, without another comment.

did the General have says me not because it reserved the hope to see its name on this place, which arrived, or had it another motivation? It is Alain Poher which one day, during a lunch with the Senate, gave me the answer: “the General was a soldier and for him the place of Star was above all fall it from the Unknown soldier. So the name of the place was to remain anonymous to preserve the memory of the men died for France…”

Note

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