Erich von Manstein is generally regarded as the most brilliant general of WWII. But he was not just a boring military wonk. In addition to his skills on the battlefield and in the map room, he was also a highly cultivated man of taste and wit. The following quote, drawn from his excellent biography Lost Victories, shows his reaction to the aesthetic choices he encountered at one of the castles he briefly occupied following the Fall of France:
The headquarters of 38 Corps was initially moved into the region of Sanserre, on the middle reaches of the Loire, to handle the conversion of a number of these divisions. We thus exchanged the splendid castle of Serrant, filled with so many historical memories, for a smaller chateau built by the manufacturer of the world-famous Cointreau at the summit of a steep hill overlooking the Loire valley.
Our new home was supposed to represent an ancient stronghold and had all the hallmarks of bad taste usually found in imitations of this kind. The effect was not improved by a tower near the living-premises that had actually been built to look like a ruin. Nor did the little cannons along the terrace bear as much resemblance to war trophies as their owner, the liqueur manufacturer, might have hoped. The only beautiful thing about the place was the view from the top of the hill over the far-flung, fertile valley of the Loire.
One indication of the parvenu mentality of the owner could be found in a big picture hanging in his study. It depicted, ranged around a circular table, the crowned heads of Europe at the turn of the century - our own Kaiser, the old Emperor Franz Josef, Queen Victoria, and so forth. Unfortunately they all looked as if they had taken more Cointreau than was good for them. On his feet beside the table was the owner himself, triumphantly brandishing a glass of his own liqueur. The removal of this monstrosity was the one change we made in that 'chateau'.
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