Statue de Jeanne D'arc à cheval

Thanks to a donation from the Saint-Amé industrialist Napoléon Marchal, an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, sculpted by Mathurin Moreau, was erected on the north-western summit of the Ballon. Originally, the plan had been to install it on the Rocher des Evaux, overlooking the Charbonniers valley on the western slope. However, access to the site proved impossible for such a sculpture.

It was unveiled on 19 September 1909 in the presence of a crowd of several thousand people. It took three pairs of oxen to haul the three-tonne statue from Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle up to this height.  It was therefore finally placed on the Chaume de la Jumenterie, still overlooking the Charbonniers valley, but on the eastern slope.

Mathurin Moreau, a fervent patriot, intended to issue a challenge to Prussia, which had annexed Lorraine, and thus to comfort the hearts of the many Lorrainers and Alsatians who had come to settle in the Moselle valley following the defeat of 1871. Joan of Arc was then looking towards France, seemingly calling on the motherland to come and liberate the lost provinces.

When this was achieved in 1918, the statue was turned back towards the east, no longer towards the “hereditary enemy”, but towards a united and finally peaceful Europe.

Moved to mark its 50th anniversary, the statue was struck by lightning. After being repaired in Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle, it was returned to its original location at an altitude of 1,242 metres, still facing towards Germany.