Gestes de Loire : sauver

One exhibition, one day each month, thirty minutes, one gesture from the Loire!
This year, the museum's activities will give voice to the "gestures of the Loire" and put people back at the heart of the river. Month after month, the spotlight will be on a singular verb, and therefore an action, its actor and its tools... This month, SAVE in front of this diploma and this medal from the Société de sauvetage de la Nièvre.
Mon âme à Dieu, ma vie à mon semblable" ("My soul to God, my life to my fellow man"), "Devoir et humanité" ("Duty and humanity"), "Sauver ou périr" ("Save or perish")... These were just some of the mottos chanted loud and clear by the many lifesaving societies that sprang up all over France in the 19th century. The Société des sauveteurs de la Nièvre, founded around 1880 by Pierre Andriot-Guérin, is particularly well known in our department. Despite all the marine symbolism used on their medals and diplomas (the anchor in particular), their vocation was not only to save lives in the water, but more generally to "combat all dangers that might threaten the life or property of others". Nor do they replace the fire brigades created in France after the Revolution (in 1808 in Cosne). Instead, they provided support, complemented them and sometimes competed with them... All of them volunteers, the rescuers thrived on the honours and prestige associated with their mission during ceremonies, parades and medal awards... Some of them accumulated so many badges that the lapel of their jacket was no longer big enough! In the century immediately following the abolition of the privileges of the Ancien Régime, these honours emphasised the merit of the people and set an example for the nation. Throw yourself into the water, a charitable soul on the lookout will no doubt come to your rescue...
The Musée de la Loire invites you to take a cultural and historical lunch break, and join us as we plunge into the heart of the inextricable links that have united, and continue to unite, Man and the river!