Napoléon Park

the green lung of Thionville

The small pink pebbles move below our feet. They love being jostled by your steps. There are those in a hurry who pass through the park without looking. There are the lovers who embrace on the benches without even getting as far as them. There are the children who run and kick them. Sometimes they fly so far they land in a flower bed or at the foot of a tree.

Getting there

FROM ROSENGARTEN

TO NAPOLEON

The park was created by the German town planner Joseph Stübben aware of the need for parks and gardens in 20th century cities. Originally called Rosengarten because of the rose bushes that thrived there, it was renamed “Napoleon” in 1921 to mark the centenary of the Emperor’s death. A marble bust in a Second Empire style was installed there in 1951.

Parc Napoléon - Berges de Moselle - Thionville

RAMPARTS

AND A PLACE FOR WALKING

On the Moselle side, the park runs along the former ramparts, probably a cofferdam, located at the confluence of the old ditches of the fortress and the Moselle. It used to protect the ditches and prevent the enemy from reaching its upper part. Finally, “dames” massive obstacles in the shape of turrets completed the system devised in the 17th-18th centuries.