Place du Trocadéro



Hitler Visiting the Eiffel Tower (June 23, 1940)
 


German Solders Looking at the Eiffel Tower from the Troca Balcony
 


German Solder Talking to French Woman on the Trocadéro
 


Trocadéro Gardens
 

Location of Place du Trocadéro

Description of Place du Trocadéro

The Place du Trocadéro is located in the 16th arrondissement, described as one of the most charming districts in Paris. This is a location that has undergone lots of change throughout the years. Originally on this site the Palais du Trocadéro was built for the Exposition Universalle of 1878 by architect Gabriel Davioud, named after the 1823 Battle of Trocadero where French forces captured the Isla del Trocadero in Spain. The structure proved to be unpopular, but lack of funding led to it not being destroyed completely until 1937. While the Palais du Trocadéreo fell, the Place du Trocadéro that is seen today was built. This construction included the Trocadéro Gardens, offering 10,000m2 of Green Space with a centerpiece of the Warsaw fountain. In addition, this construction introduces the Palais du Chaillot to the Trocadéro. The balcony overlooking the garden is called the Troca balcony, which is shadowed by the two wings of the Palais de Chaillot and bronze statues of Apollo and Hercules. This became an area quite significant in occupied Paris as after the fall of France, Hitler visited Paris on the 23rd of June in 1940. While there, he visited many famous sites, including the Place du Trocadéro which at the time was only standing for three years. Here he took a photo with the Eiffel tower in the background that has become rather famous. In addition, the Place du Trocadéro is also significant because it quickly became an area home to one of the first resistance movements, and where some women, including Yvonne Oddon became a part of it.

Selected Bibliography

Aran, Sue. "Lost Monuments of Paris: Palais du Trocadéro & Palais du Bardo." Bonjour Paris: The Insider's Guide. March 10, 2016. Accessed November 21, 2017. https://bonjourparis.com/history/lost-monuments-paris/.

"Hitler takes a tour of Paris." History.com. Accessed November 21, 2017. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hitler-takes-a-tour-of-paris.

"Jardins du Trocadéro." PARiS: Official Website of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Accessed November 21, 2017. https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71144/Jardins-du-Trocadero.

"Le Trocadéro et son esplanade." PARiS: Official Website of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Accessed November 21, 2017. https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/73168/Le-Trocad%C3%A9ro-et-son-esplanade.

Why is this Site Important?

The Musée d'Art Moderne acts as an example of how women were involved in the resistance movement from it's very early stages, particularly by looking at the role Agnes Humbert played. Humbert's role began with her one day returning to her job as the curator at the Musée des Arts Traditions Populaires[1] to find books by Jewish authors had been damaged and replaced by German authors she deemed to be second rate.[2] This event results in Humbert becoming angry with the Nazis and collaborators, as shown by how she says "The Fourth Republic will have nothing to do with people like that."[3] In this anger, Humbert travels to here, the Musée d'Arts Moderne to meet friend Jean Cassou, who together decide to create both anti-Nazi and anti-Vichy propaganda, as well as a newspaper titled Résistance.[4] Within this group, Humbert takes upon a few different roles. Firstly, she was the typist and secretary of the group that would be later called the Musée de l'Homme Resistance.[5] Humbert herself comments on how this role had to do with her gender, saying: "I am the typist, naturally."[6] In addition, Humbert also plays a role in the distribution of the paper, as she introduces the group to Edouard D. who she states "is keen to work with [the group], and he will distribute [Résistance] among the circles in which he moves, to which we otherwise have little access"[7] This introduction leads to Humbert having to travel across Paris with one hundred copies of Résistance in a briefcase.[8] The story of Humbert's beginning and role within the resistance shows how women were not just simply passive in the resistance movements of occupied Paris. Women such as Humbert not only joined in on these groups, but were instrumental in their establishment. Often, once the groups formed, the roles taken by women, while crucial, were still seen as feminine jobs. Despite this, Humbert stepped out of those roles and a was instrumental to distribution, even placing herself in risky situations while completing tasks. Ultimately, it is clear how women, such as Humbert, were important throughout the resistance movements as they had the ability to aid in starting the movements and held crucial, dangerous jobs within them.

[1] Alan Riding, And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010), 109.

[2] David Shoenbrun, Soldiers of the Night: The Story of the French Resistance (New York: The New American Library, 1980), 73.

[3] Agnes Humbert, Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France, trans. Barbara Mellor (London: Bloomsbury, 2008), 26.

[4] Schoenbrun, 73.

[5] Margaret C. Weitz, Sisters in the Resistance: How Women Fought to Free France 1940-1945 (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995), 59.

[6] Humbert, 25.

[7] Ibid, 26.

[8] Riding, 112.


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