Reims 2024 - Gare de L'Est

 

Paris Gare de L'Est

The Paris Gare de L' Est railway station was opened in 1849 by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Paris à Strasbourg (Paris–Strasbourg Railway Company). It was officially inaugurated by Emperor Napoleon III in 1850. It adopted the name Gare de l'Est in 1854.

Gare de L'Est

In 1914 as France mobilised her troops ahead of World War One, the station was a major departure point for troops moving to their reporting points.

Gare de L'Est French Mobilisation August 2nd 1914

Gare de L'Est Soldiers departing

In the entrance hall is a large mural depicting Le Départ des poilus, août 1914 (Departure of the Infantrymen, August 1914). It was painted by Albert Herter, an American artist who served in France with the US Army 1917-1918. 

Gare de L'Est Le Départ des poilus, août 1914

Le Départ des poilus, août 1914

The station would see many movements of soldiers during the course of  the First World War transporting soldiers out to the eastern sector of the Western Front. 

Gare de L'Est 1918

A memorial in the station records the names of  railway workers killed during WW1. The inscription reads Aux Agents du Reseau de L'Est Morts pour La Patrie 1914-1918 (To the Agents of the Eastern Network who died for the Homeland 1914-1918).

Gare de L'Est 1914-1918 Memorial

A memorial plaque commemorates the railway workers from the Second World War. It is  inscribed Aux Cheminots du Reaseau de L'Est morts pour la France (To the Railway Workers of the Eastern Network who died for France).

Gare de L'Est Second World War Memorial

There is also plaques dedicated to those who were deported from the Gare de l'Est in during the Second World War.

Gare de L'Est Second World War Deportee Memorial