Communards

In 1874, the mayor of Luxembourg City granted authorised the building of a funerary monument to François Sordet and Auguste Joseph Martin: two "French citizens" who died at the Pfaffenthal Civil Hospice in 1873. Auguste Martin – a tanner born in 1837 – was involved in the troubles caused by the Paris Commune and fled to Luxembourg. He stayed at the City's civil hospice from 31 July to 17 August 1872, and then returned on 8 October 1872. He would eventually die there on 11 June 1873. François Sordet was born in 1820, and was actively involved in the Paris Commune. On 22 March 1873, he was given refuge at the civil hospice, where he died on 19 May 1873. The request to erect the monument was signed by painter and decorator P.J. de Gand, and sculptor Jules Louis Audoynaud (1838-1887), a leader in the Commune movement, who was wanted by the French police. Following the armistice in 1875, he was able to return to France. All four had arrived in Luxembourg between September 1871 and August 1872. The College of Aldermen renewed the concession between 1917 and 1920. At that time, a red star was placed on the monument. The "Faubourgs" section of the Luxembourg Socialist Party took on the task of renovating the monument and, every year since 1926, has hosted a ceremony in commemoration of the Commune. A Luxembourg branch of the Association française des Amies de la Commune was founded in 1995. A plaque reading "En mémoire des héros de la Commune de Paris de 1841" (In memory of the heroes of the Paris Commune of 1841) was placed at the foot of the monument by the Luxembourg branch.

The monument was erected in the unconsecrated part of the cemetery. Its pyramidal shape evokes republican, secular, and even masonic traditions. The monument is surmounted by a victory torch symbolising the successful transmission of a legacy of and responsibility for international values.