GALITZIN (GOLITZIN) SERGEY (1774-1859), PRINCE... - Lot 30 - Osenat

Lot 30
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10000 - 15000 EUR
GALITZIN (GOLITZIN) SERGEY (1774-1859), PRINCE... - Lot 30 - Osenat
GALITZIN (GOLITZIN) SERGEY (1774-1859), PRINCE - AUTOGRAPH These unpublished archives concern the restoration of the commemorative moment of the battle of the "Devil's Bridge" fought by the army of count Alexander W. Suvorov's army against the French army in Switzerland in 1799. The archive also includes documents surrounding the project of building a new memorial for the town of Givet. The archive includes: Signed typescript letters, LAS, LS, photographs and plans for the monument, plans for announcing the monument in Givet, telegrams, reports of avalanche damage to the existing monument on the St. Gotthard Pass. All documents and letters are addressed to Prince S.M.Galitzine or to his secretariat. Signed by D.Gurko, engineers K.Trobach and R.Zschokke, baron J. de Luibe (director of the foreign colony in Germany), Ratmanov, war agent in France and Switzerland, etc. Some of these letters on official letterheads from the secretariat of Prince Galitzine, the Eigene Glühköper-Fabrik in Berlin and numerous service companies; several copies of letters from Prince S.Galitzine to K.Trobach. In Russian, German and French. The correspondence concerns in part the years 1893-1894 (period of the construction of the monument near the "Devil's Bridge"), then the years 1901-1913 (period of the destruction of the monument at the "Devil's Bridge" and its restoration, then the work on the project of the monument in Givet). In total: 299 pp. in various formats. As is (many documents have tears at the edges and traces of folding). We enclose: a financial report concerning the chapel near the Galitzine Hospital in Moscow. 3 pp. in-folio. All archives are presented in a cardboard folder from the secretariat of Prince Galitzine. As is (tears at edges, soiling). In 1894-1896, the Russian state launched a first project for a monument to the army of General Alexander W. Suvorov, for use at the World War II. Suvorov's army, in view of the hundredth anniversary of his crossing of the Alps. The monument with a cross and a commemorative plaque was installed directly in a cave on the St. Gotthard Pass, near the famous "Devil's Bridge", where a bloody battle took place, the beginning of a long crossing of the Alps. Under the direction of Prince S.M.Galitzine and Konrad Trobach as the main engineer, the project was inaugurated in 1899. But in 1901, the monument was hit by a major avalanche which caused a section of the cliff to fall, resulting in a large amount of falling rocks. In the archives presented at the auction, we find numerous accounts of the analyses carried out by the engineers after the incident. We learn that the restoration work will be complicated and will require significant investments. The restoration will also require a review of the entire protection system, as well as annual maintenance to prevent possible rock falls. In parallel with this restoration project, S.M.Galitzine is starting to finance a new memorial project. He again called on Konrad Trobach as engineer for a memorial to the Russian army of A. Suvorov in the town of Givet, France. As stated in the official announcement: "The monument in front of this inscription glorifies the memory of the glorious comrades-in-arms of the Generalissimo Count Suvorov Prince of Italy, who made his way through the Teufelsbruecke in the Reuss Valley on 26 September 1799. It was erected under the patronage of Emperor Alexander III and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, on land graciously granted by the Ursen town council (...) by and at the expense of Prince Serge Galitzine, a Russian gentleman, according to the design of the architect A. Werschinsky, St. Petersburg, and under the direction of Konrad Trobach, Berlin, by the engineer R. Zschokke. The details of financing, the engineers' designs and calculations, the progress of the work can be found in the documents presented in the Galitzine archive. In 1910, the first project of the monument was realized, but many coincidences delayed the final installation. In 1913, the architect of the project died, and then one of the engineers of the project who had the model of the monument at home at the time of his death. The model was blocked in Nice and the Russian state was unable to recover it. In the meantime, the French government was no longer in favour of the project, which had already cost Count Galitzine dearly. The monument will not be installed definitively and the project will stop shortly before the Revolution of 1917. Prince S.M.Galitzin wrote a book about the generalissimo count Alexander Suvorov. Several documents concerning the publication of this book are also present in this archive. "The Devil's Bridge During the war of the Second Coalition, in 1799,
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