Plateau de Californie – Montagne de Craonne
The Plateau de Californie is located in the eastern section of the Chemin des Dames.
It boasts an unobstructed view of the village of Craonne and the surrounding countryside.
Originally called Montagne de Craonne, this plateau was part of a 47-hectare farm, with cultivated land, woods, and underground quarries.
In the 19th century, Henri Vanier, an investor in the renowned Pommery Champagne house, acquired the estate.
He built a sumptuous residence, a small zoo, and a garden adorned with exotic trees and plants native to California, which earned the garden its name: Jardin de Californie.
The soldiers nicknamed this hill the Plateau de Californie during the First World War!
Plateau de Californie during WWI
The Plateau de Californie was the scene of fierce fighting due to its strategic importance.
The Germans occupied the Chemin des Dames from the beginning of the war. They fortified the plateau, transforming it into a formidable stronghold linked by underground tunnels to their other key positions, notably the Caverne du Dragon (Dragon’s Cave) beneath the Creute farm.
Like other sites along the Chemin des Dames, the recapture of the Plateau de Californie was part of the disastrous Nivelle Offensive of April 1917.
This failed offensive, one of the deadliest on the Western Front, resulted in considerable casualties and profound disillusionment among the French troops, leading to a series of mutinies.
For decades, the Battle of the Chemin des Dames, also known as the Second Battle of the Aisne, was synonymous with a humiliating defeat and, consequently, deliberately forgotten.
On the other hand, the Battle of Verdun was hailed as a victory and commemorated, despite the equally immense losses it suffered.
Plateau de Californie, a Site of Remembrance
At the end of the war, the Plateau de Californie and the Chemin des Dames were nothing more than a desolate, lunar landscape, scarred by trenches and craters.
The devastation was so extensive that the entire area was designated a “red zone,”, which the French state acquired and transformed it into a memorial site.
The Plateau de Californie underwent significant restoration, including de-mining and replanting pine trees.
Today, their roots intertwine among the remnants of the old craters and trenches.
Two marked trails allow you to explore the site with walks of approximately 30 minutes to an hour.
A 25-meter-high observation tower, built in 2013, offers a view of the surrounding countryside that was once part of the battlefield.
You will also find two memorials on the Plateau de Californie.
The first monument pays tribute to the soldiers of the 18th Infantry Regiment, while the second is a monumental 4-meter-high bronze sculpture weighing 1.6 tons, the work of the sculptor Haïm Kern:
“”Ils n’ont pas choisi leur sépulture” – “They Did Not Choose Their Graves.”
Inaugurated on November 5, 1998, in the presence of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, this sculpture commemorated the 80th anniversary of the 1918 victory. Unfortunately, this monumental bronze sculpture was stolen on Tuesday, August 12, 2014.
“The theft and damage to Mr. Kern’s work at this early stage of the Centenary is an intolerable act that undermines the memory of all the men who suffered in these places,” lamented the préfecture of the Aisne.
Aisne department – Craonne – D18CD-Chemin des Dames – Picardie region
Coordinates: Lat 49.444901 – Long 3.779415
Credits Memorial sculpture by Haim Kern
