ESPACE NIC. MOLITOR
Born in 1882 in Bigonville, Nic. Molitor was the son of the village café owner and shopkeeper. A talented businessman, he transformed the family establishment into a renowned hotel and restaurant at the beginning of the 20th century. A passionate photographer and traveller, enthusiastic hunter and motorist, he belonged to the wealthy class of the Martelange region. As such, he befriended, among others, the young and daring owner of the slate quarries.
The Nic. Molitor space is an archive containing 1,900 photographs developed from his glass negatives and 1,750 paper prints. This heritage transports us to a pivotal era when two worlds met and coexisted, as well as into the life of the villages in the Ardennes between 1900 and 1950, through the following different approaches:
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
From June 2026 onwards, the Villa Rother will host a permanent exhibition displaying several hundred photographs from the Molitor collection in various formats. It documents the family of the Villa's masters, the character and life of Nic Molitor, and the intersection of the two worlds.
DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
The reading room on the first floor of the Villa Rother is accessible by appointment for further research on the entirety of the Molitor collection. The Documentation Centre with books on the slate quarries will be open for reading only, with no loans, by appointment after its opening in June 2026.
