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286-tirboitA&B2
Bronze medal, France .
Minted around 1922.
Some minor defects.
Copy in its box (the box shows some wear).
Rare .
Artist, engraver, sculptor: Albert SCHULTZ (1871-1953) .
Dimensions : 50mm.
Weight : 56 g.
Metal : bronze .
Hallmark on the edge (mark on the edge) : bronze .
Quick and neat delivery.
The stand is not for sale.
The support is not for sale.
Pierre Bucher (Guebwiller, August 10, 1869 - Strasbourg, February 15, 1921) was an ardent defender of Alsace's belonging to France during the German period and was part of the circle of Saint-Léonard. According to Jean Schlumberger, he was “the soul of Alsace”.
Biography
Childhood and studies
Pierre Bucher was born in Guebwiller in Haut-Rhin. His father Jean (1829-1905) was an accountant at the Schlumberger factory. His mother Marie-Joséphine, née Vogelweith1 died at the age of 27, on July 26, 1872, when he was only three years old. His sister is Jeanne Bucher who will create her gallery in Paris.
He completed his higher education in Guebwiller, then in Strasbourg, where he studied medicine. It was there that he came into contact with artists, in particular Alfred Martzolff, Léon Hornecker, Paul Braunagel, Gustave Stoskopf, Joseph Sattler and especially Charles Spindler. This group would subsequently take the name Cercle de Saint-Léonard2. Pierre Bucher then spent a year in Paris in 1896 and completed internships in Germany and Switzerland. He did his “volunteering” in the German army in the middle of his studies.
He established himself as a doctor in Strasbourg in 1897 and specialized in nervous and childhood diseases. There he married Amélie Haehl, originally from Robertsau.
Before the war
Pierre Bucher is interested in Alsatian artistic movements. In 1901, he took over as director of the Revue alsacienne Illustrée created and owned by Charles Spindler, which aimed to raise awareness of Alsatian culture and traditions by highlighting their French roots. In 1912, with Dr. Ferdinand Dollinger, he added to this review the Cahiers alsaciens, chronicles of the moral and economic life of Alsace, more opposed to Germanic culture.
Commemorative plaque at the Alsatian Museum
With the Dollinger brothers, Ferdinand and Léon, he founded the Alsatian Museum in Strasbourg, and he was involved in numerous associations3 or Alsatian groups. Thus, under his leadership, Annales Circles were created in Alsace, sponsored by Alsatian women, notably Ms. Madeleine Brisson, née Sarcey (1869-1950), wife of Adolphe Brisson (1860-1925)4. These circles bring news from France to German Alsace. He was part of the Society of Friends of the Arts, which notably organized the French exhibition of 1907 where, among others, Rodin, Besnard[Which?] and Cottet[Which?] were exhibited.
As the Germans limited the number of theatrical performances in French, he created the Société Dramatique, of which Frédéric Eccard took over as president. He also organizes conferences and supports the Cours Populaires de langue française with his collaborators Melles Riehl, Friedolsheim and Musculus, in order to teach French to young Alsatians.
He also follows university events and supports the creation of the Student Circle. When this circle was dissolved in 1911 by the German university authorities, it protected the affected students, and then supported the creation of a Circle of former students.
Concerned about the image of Alsace in France, he invited French writers such as René Bazin, André Hallays, Georges Delahache, Paul Acker and Pierre de Guirielle, spoke to them about Alsace and described the state of mind to them. Alsatians. The volunteer Ehrmann, hero of In the Service of Germany by Maurice Barrès, is directly inspired by Pierre Bucher, who became involved with the author in the summer of 1899 during his stay in Niederbronn, during which he visited the site of the Battle of Reichshoffen5. In 1899 he took charge of the Revue Alsacienne Illustré, created the previous year by the painter Charles Spindler, and took part, in 1900, in the creation of the Alsacian Museum in Strasbourg, presented by Barrès as "testimonies and means of [the] national persistence” in Alsace6. Finally, he participated in the efforts of the French Monument Committee of 1870 in Wissembourg, inaugurated in October 19097.
According to his contemporaries, the fact that he was not arrested by the German authorities despite all his initiatives aimed at advancing French ideas in Alsace can be explained by his discretion, his prudence, his very good knowledge of the Germany and its administrations, its relationship with notable artists in Paris, as well as the fact that it continually remained legal.
During the war
On July 30, 1914, he was warned of his imminent arrest by the German police8, fled to Switzerland9, then enlisted in the French army. All his property was seized by the Germans, and he was sentenced to death for high treason and desertion. The Germans published letters seized from his house, which described his efforts to defend the French cause in Alsace, under the name Zehn Jahre Minenkrieg im Friden (Ten years of mine warfare during peace). His wife, by chance in Lyon with their daughters, stayed there and took charge of the Arbresle10 hospital.
He joins the medical profession, but does not stay there
After war
Refusing the post of mayor of Strasbourg13, he was then attached to the general police station of the Republic in Strasbourg. He will be the collaborator of Maringer first, and of Millerand then.
He left this post in September 1920 to devote himself to the associations he supported, notably the Society of Friends of the University, of which he was the general secretary, and of which he obtained Raymond Poincaré as president14. It also supports the French Book, the Popular Courses, the German Press Bulletin15, the Village Conference, the Students' Circle, the Marseillaise...
Grave of Pierre Bucher and his family in the North cemetery of Strasbourg
He inaugurated the French University of Strasbourg on November 22, 1919, and he was named Commander of the Legion of Honor16. He created French Alsace, taking up the concept of the Revue Alsacienne Illustrée, the first issue of which appeared on January 1, 1921, which he directed until his death.
He died on February 15, 1921, following an operation on an old injury contracted during the war. Three days later, on the occasion of his funeral, Maurice Barrès recalled “the services he rendered to the Patri
Concerned about the image of Alsace in France, he invited French writers such as René Bazin, André Hallays, Georges Delahache, Paul Acker and Pierre de Guirielle, spoke to them about Alsace and described the state of mind to them. Alsatians. The volunteer Ehrmann, hero of In the Service of Germany by Maurice Barrès, is directly inspired by Pierre Bucher, who became involved with the author in the summer of 1899 during his stay in Niederbronn, during which he visited the site of the Battle of Reichshoffen5. In 1899 he took charge of the Revue Alsacienne Illustré, created the previous year by the painter Charles Spindler, and took part, in 1900, in the creation of the Alsacian Museum in Strasbourg, presented by Barrès as "testimonies and means of [the] national persistence” in Alsace6. Final