When Gauthier Corbat studied art history, he didn’t know he would help rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral. But his contribution to culture won’t end with supplying beams for one of the world’s most famous spires: He’s planning centuries into the future.
Corbat works for Groupe Corbat, a third-generation sawmill in Switzerland, two miles from the French border. After fire destroyed the roof of the historic church and spire (see Notre Dame Cathedral on Fire), Corbat wanted to participate in the rebuild.
Notre Dame’s original beams came from 1,000-year-old oak trees. There aren’t enough of those left in France, so Rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris directors chose 100-year-old trees from forests all over the country. The trees had to be at least 24 inches in diameter, straight, and without knots. They also needed to be tall enough to cut into 20-foot-long pieces.
The cathedral project quickly became a source of French pride. Leaders snubbed century-old oak from other nations, and Corbat realized his Swiss oak wouldn’t be used. But since many of his employees are French, Corbat kept pursuing a role in the project.
Persistence paid off. Project leaders chose Groupe Corbat as one of 40 sawmills—the only one outside of France—to prepare the 1,500 beams needed for reconstruction.
In October, loggers cut oaks in France just across the border from Groupe Corbat and hauled them to Corbat’s mill.
The sawmill is the only one in Switzerland able to do this kind of work. Still, the logs challenged the team. The beams are twice the length of those the mill usually cuts.
Cyril Drossard, a Frenchman working for Groupe Corbat, cut 25 timbers destined for Notre Dame’s spire. “The work wasn’t more complicated than usual,” he says. “But I knew I had to cut it just right, and that was a little nerve-wracking.”
Today, cut timbers dry in the mill yard. Each has a pink tag indicating which forest it came from and where in the church the piece goes. After a year, carpenters will take the timbers to Paris.
Corbat gets emotional about contributing to something this historic. But his sentiment goes beyond his sawmill.
“The oak forests were planted in the 17th and 18th centuries. Those people planned beyond their own lifetimes, knowing the next generations would want this wood. It’s exactly what we needed for the cathedral, so it’s important that we keep replanting and carry on this tradition.”
Corbat see his work as an honor—but also a responsibility to carry on the legacy of planting trees.
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. — Proverbs 13:22
Why? A godly inheritance involves more than money. Character qualities like diligence, integrity, perseverance, and stewardship help prepare the next generation to glorify God.
Pray for wisdom to prepare for the future while trusting God in the present.
