Monument du Traité de Verdun

Monument commemorating the 843 treaty that split Charlemagne's empire

The Monument du Traité de Verdun is easy to miss but historically significant — it marks the agreement signed in this city in 843 that divided the Carolingian Empire and effectively created France and Germany as separate political entities. The treaty's line of partition became, in the long run, the frontier whose disputes brought the 1916 battle to the same valley.

The bronze relief, installed for the centenary of the 1916 battle, shows the three grandsons of Charlemagne meeting at the moment of signing. It stands in the small park beside the Hôtel de Ville.

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A story
The Treaty of Verdun in 843 partitioned Charlemagne's empire among his three grandsons. The line between West Francia (Charles the Bald) and East Francia (Louis the German) ran roughly along what became the French-German border — the geopolitical fault line at the root of every subsequent war between the two states. The treaty was negotiated and signed here in Verdun.