REIMS, 1918 - 2023 : we 'll never forget !...
NEVER AGAIN : REIMS PROMOTES PEACE...
About us :
We, the founders of Reims 2023, were all born in Reims, Champagne, France and were shocked when we were children to see all these cemeteries, just a few kilometers away from our home town :
French of course, but also German, British, Italian, Russian, Indian, American, North African and African...
We organise a week-end of celebration /remembrance /reconciliation in the presence of different nationalities, part of the conflict, 105 years ago :
DATES :
Friday 22, Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 June 2023
Make a reservation as soon as you can...
NEW DEADLINE : 10 may 2023.
We hope to have a variety of nationalities, which were fighting around Reims between
1914 (after the Taxis de la Marne) and 1918.
The battle front was frozen 6 kms north of Reims for 4 years and the Cathedral was the unique big building and the center of the attention. It has been said that Germans supposed there were spies in the towers and that's the reason why they tried to destroy it.
Contact & reservation :
Association Reims 2023 :
E-mail :
reims2023(at)@gmail.com
( Please, replace : (at) by @ )
Postal address :
REIMS 2023
c/o Centre International de Séjour
Chaussée Bocquaine
51100 REIMS
A lot of beds are reserved there for all the nationalities.
Deadline, until MAY 10 2023 : 80 €
If beds are still available after MAY 10, price might rise.
Price for 2 nights : 80 €, including accomodation in dormitories of 2 to 5, 2 breakfasts, Champagne buffet Saturday evening & membership fees.
Please note that the 3 other meals, Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday lunches, either vegetarian or vegan or typical French can, if wanted, be taken outside where we'll picnic together.
We can even share your country specialties if you eventually bring some typical products from your own country !...
During this reconciliation week-end of 22 to 24 June, we would like to show you our town the way it is today...
The Romans created Durocortorum after signing an agreement with a Gallic Tribe, the Remes who found that the Roman civilisation was much more advanced than their own, for example, central heating with warm water under the tiles, underground aquaducts coming from sources as far as 40 km away and a well planned general organisation of society and justice. They decided to collaborate and Durocortorum, the Roman name for Reims, was settled beside the River Vesle and became the capital of Belgica, the northern European province, and was much bigger at that time than Lutetia (Paris).
- The town was located between Lugdunum (Lyon) and Londinium (London) and between Burdigala (Bordeaux) and Aquisgranum (Aix la Chapelle = Aachen). the Via Francigena Iinked Cantuariensis (Canterbury) to Rome, making the town the biggest crossroads of Europe.
- There are still many traces of these Roman times, for example, the Mars Porch and the Forum.
- After the baptism of Clovis in 496, Reims became a royal town from the IXth century and 33 Kings of France were then crowned in Reims until the last one : Charles Xth in 1825.
- Saint Remi (1007) and Cathedral (1211) were declared world heritage by Unesco in 1991.
But, we remember that at the end of WWI in 1918, after 4 years of intensive bombing (+ 10,000 fire shells received) and combat, mostly in the trenches, 4 km away around Reims, our home town Reims was destroyed up to 80 %.
Considering its history, it did not merit such a destruction from other people, coming from just the other side of the Rhine river, only 2 hours 30 minutes away by the motorway coming from Germany today... Why ? Why war ?