“Who was Albert le Grand?” I ask you now. The crooked Rue Albert Garry holds secrets. This street, where it is believed he lived, has been a thoroughfare in Paris for hundreds of years.
When Albert le Grand lived here it would have been an unnamed path. It was a collection of houses that led up from the river to the Place Maubert. There he gave his lessons to students seated on bales of straw. No traces of his house remain today. All that has been left behind here are the myths.
Albert le Grand had several names. He was a European wanderer born in Germany. He spent time in Italy and France. He picked up many sobriquets. Was he Albrecht Von Bollstadt? Albertus Magnus? Albert de Cologne or Albert le Grand? Or none of these? In fact, it seems that his real name was Albertus de Groot. It literally meant Albert the Great. It was an accident of birth. This earned him the translations of ‘le Grand’ and ‘Magnus.’ Contemporaries believed it actually related to his achievements in the worlds of science and theology.
What is not in doubt however is the fact that he was a great man. Born sometime around the beginning of the 13th century, he moved to France. He became a teacher at the University of Paris. He introduced Greek and Arabic teachings to the school. He shared the works of Aristotle. He produced many tomes on animals, plants and minerals. He later became a Bishop back in Germany. He was declared a Saint in 1931. He is the Patron Saint of Natural Scientists.
Just as his identity is multifarious, so is Albert’s reputation. Others have appropriated his story. This makes it almost impossible today for us to decide what is true and what is invented. It is perhaps this aspect that so interested the surrealists. They made Albert le Grand into one of their heroes.
The story that particularly fascinated them was the legend that Albert created a metallic automaton or android. This robot could speak and reply to questions. The French artist Georges Hugnet created a decalcomania portrait of the robot. Legend has it that it was destroyed by Albert’s student, Thomas Aquinas.
What else is left behind in this street once known as Rue Perdue or the Lost Street? Albert le Grand is sometimes referred to as a magician or alchemist. This is mainly due to his interest in the sciences. These interests went beyond the normal theologically accepted limits at the time. Much of this reputation comes from a book. It was very popular in the 19th century. It was called ‘Le Grand Albert.’ It dealt with magic and the occult. It was believed to have originated from the writings of Albert le Grand. It was not his work. But he did write about alchemy. He wrote “the alchemist will be discreet and silent. He will never reveal the result of his experiments. He will live far from men in a house where there are two or three rooms to be exclusively used for his research.”
Did he have such a place here on Rue Albert Garry? On the corner of the street is a restaurant called ‘L’Atelier de Maitre Albert’. Inside this restaurant there is a large fire place and thick stone walls. It has an atmosphere from centuries past. There is no mention of alchemy, magic or the occult. In fact there is no mention of Albert le Grand at all. Instead this is a temple to the glory of the well-known chef Guy Savoy. This is his atelier.
At the other end of Rue Albert Garry is the Place Maubert. Some say that Maubert is a contraction of Maitre Albert. But again this remains speculation. What is known however is that it was the site of executions of many printers in the 16th century. Rue Albert Garry whispers tales of science, magic and mystery.