Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes

Saint -Etienne -à- Arnes is a commune of the department of Ardennes in the Champagne- Ardenne region. Administratively, it is assigned to the Canton Machault and the district Vouziers.

Geography

The village with 234 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) is located in the foothills of the Ardennes on the Arnes, a small tributary of the Suippe.

Military cemetery

In the area of ​​the municipality is a military cemetery is from the period after the First World War with the graves of 12,541 dead which were mostly German soldiers.

On the night of 7 to 8 July 2012 about 40 soldiers' graves were desecrated. This was done in advance of a meeting between French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 8 July 2012 in Reims. The meeting is reminiscent of a demonstrative amicable conclusion by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer during a state visit from 2 to 8 July 1962 in the Cathedral of Reims, France 50 years ago.

Personalities

The French pilot Bernard Barny de Romanet (1894-1921) was born in the town.