Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin
Monument
Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin, located in Wallers (Nord), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Wallers, Nord, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.3803, 3.4273
- Mérimée Reference
- PA59000156
Inaugurated in 1910 in the heart of the Northern France coalfields, this employers' village hall still has its period refreshment counter and its dressing rooms with marble fireplaces, living witnesses of working-class cultural life.
History
In the heart of the Arenberg district of Wallers, the village hall built by the Compagnie des Mines d'Anzin embodies the social and cultural ambitions of a mining boss who, at the turn of the 20th century, wanted to offer his workers much more than just daily labour. Inaugurated in 1910, this vast building still leaves its mark on the Place Casimir Périer, once occupied by a huge sand pit filled with waste rock from nearby pits. What makes this place truly unique is the remarkable quality and integrity of its interiors. Visitors are greeted by a vestibule flanked by two spaces with very distinct purposes: on the left, a refreshment room whose period wooden counter has survived more than a century without disappearing; on the right, a library whose large wooden shelves bear witness to a desire to educate and intellectually uplift the working class. These seemingly modest details reveal the paternalistic philosophy of the Compagnie des Mines d'Anzin. The great hall itself, with its generous proportions of 24 by 28 metres, offers an impressive volume where concerts, theatrical performances and community gatherings resounded for decades. The raised stage, flanked by dressing rooms with marble fireplaces and served by a corridor bathed in natural light thanks to a zenithal skylight, lends the venue an architectural dignity rarely expected in a northern working-class housing estate. Now owned by the Wallers commune and listed as a Historic Monument since 2009, the Arenberg village hall is part of the landscape of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coalfield, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's a must-see for anyone wishing to understand mining civilisation in all its human and architectural depth. The building still vibrates with the collective memory of a community forged by coal and solidarity. Within its walls, every detail that has been preserved - the grain of the wood in the counter, the cool elegance of the marble chimneys - tells the story of the men and women who, after the dark hours of the underground, came here in search of light, culture and fraternity.
Architecture
The village hall in the Arenberg district is part of the civil and social architecture of the early 20th century, typical of the buildings erected by mining employers in the northern coalfield. The building adopts a sober, functional rectangular plan, dominated by the central volume of the large auditorium, whose imposing dimensions - 24 metres long and 28 metres wide - bear witness to the cultural ambitions of the Compagnie des mines d'Anzin. The forecourt, organised around a central entrance vestibule, houses two areas with distinct vocations on either side: the refreshment room on the left, with its intact period wooden counter, and the library on the right, which retains its two large wooden shelves. At the rear, the raised stage forms the architectural focal point of the whole. It is flanked by two service areas - a waiting room for the artists and a storeroom for the sets - which communicate with a longitudinal corridor running along the back of the stage. This corridor, remarkable for its zenithal glass roof that floods the space with diffused natural light, leads to three individual dressing rooms, each with a marble fireplace. This detail of comfort and elegance, surprising in a facility designed for miners, illustrates the care taken by the Compagnie to ensure the quality of its architectural creations. The building as a whole reflects the sober, functional style of the first quarter of the twentieth century, without excessive decorative flourishes, but with attention paid to volumes, light and the use of noble materials - worked wood, marble fireplaces - which give the building an architectural dignity characteristic of enlightened industrial paternalism.
Related Figures
Compagnie des mines d'Anzin — commanditaire et bâtisseur de l'ensemble du quartier d'Arenberg et de sa salle des fêtesCasimir Périer — président de la République (1894-1895) et figure tutélaire du capitalisme industriel français, dont le nom orne la placeArchitectes Foyer, Dodat et Villain — auteurs de la rénovation de l'édifice menée entre 1977 et 1984 pour le compte de la commune de WallersClaude Berri — cinéaste ayant tourné Germinal (1993) à la fosse d'Arenberg toute proche, contribuant à la célébrité mondiale du siteÉmile Zola — auteur de Germinal (1885), dont l'œuvre littéraire inspira la mémoire collective du bassin minier auquel appartient Wallers
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin located?
Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin is located in Wallers, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin built?
Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin open to visitors?
Salle des fêtes du quartier d'Arenberg construite par la compagnie des mines d'Anzin is currently closed to visitors.