WWI soldier bedroom frozen in time
16:14 Nov 10, 2014 W
BELABRE:
The dust and cobwebs lie thick after nearly a century, but the memory
of the French soldier who grew up in this bedroom -- and who died in
Belgium in World War I -- is today as vivid as the sunlight streaming
through the window.
Dragoons officer Hubert Rochereau's presence
permeates the place. It emanates from photos and from the second
lieutenant's various possessions -- uniforms, riding trophies, books --
frozen in time on the top floor of a large home in Belabre, a small
village in central France.
The vivid vestiges of Rochereau's
short life are a testament to the grief his parents felt upon learning
of the death of their only son on April 26, 1918, at the age of just 21.
So
deep was their bereavement, in fact, that they sought to have his
memory live on when they sold the house, stipulating in the deed of sale
that their beloved son's bedroom must go untouched for 500 years.
The
current owner, Daniel Fabre, has observed their wishes. "It's not an
act of devotion but of historic preservation," he tells AFP.
But
the clause itself "has no legal basis," he notes. "You can't keep
something preserved that way for 500 years under French law."
16:14 Nov 10, 2014 W
BELABRE:
The dust and cobwebs lie thick after nearly a century, but the memory
of the French soldier who grew up in this bedroom -- and who died in
Belgium in World War I -- is today as vivid as the sunlight streaming
through the window.
Dragoons officer Hubert Rochereau's presence permeates the place. It emanates from photos and from the second lieutenant's various possessions -- uniforms, riding trophies, books -- frozen in time on the top floor of a large home in Belabre, a small village in central France.
The vivid vestiges of Rochereau's short life are a testament to the grief his parents felt upon learning of the death of their only son on April 26, 1918, at the age of just 21.
So deep was their bereavement, in fact, that they sought to have his memory live on when they sold the house, stipulating in the deed of sale that their beloved son's bedroom must go untouched for 500 years.
The current owner, Daniel Fabre, has observed their wishes. "It's not an act of devotion but of historic preservation," he tells AFP.
But the clause itself "has no legal basis," he notes. "You can't keep something preserved that way for 500 years under French law."
Dragoons officer Hubert Rochereau's presence permeates the place. It emanates from photos and from the second lieutenant's various possessions -- uniforms, riding trophies, books -- frozen in time on the top floor of a large home in Belabre, a small village in central France.
The vivid vestiges of Rochereau's short life are a testament to the grief his parents felt upon learning of the death of their only son on April 26, 1918, at the age of just 21.
So deep was their bereavement, in fact, that they sought to have his memory live on when they sold the house, stipulating in the deed of sale that their beloved son's bedroom must go untouched for 500 years.
The current owner, Daniel Fabre, has observed their wishes. "It's not an act of devotion but of historic preservation," he tells AFP.
But the clause itself "has no legal basis," he notes. "You can't keep something preserved that way for 500 years under French law."
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