Napoleon's Marshal Michel Ney was born in the Lorraine town of Sarrelouis in 1769. However, he was commemorated there late, for reasons connected with the political situation of the border region after the Second World War. This work, unique in the oeuvre of Lambert-Rucki, an outstanding sculptor and decorator, was realised immediately after the end of the war in the French occupation zone in the Saarland. The monument was inaugurated by Colonel Gilbert Grandval, the military governor of the district, thus accentuating the city's historical affiliation to French Lorraine. Similarly, the erection of a monument to a famous French commander there was a politically important act in the post-war era. Both the material and the simplified form resembling a large marionette make this forgotten work one of the most interesting monuments created immediately after the war in Europe. Lambert-Rucki probably obtained this unusual commission through his acquaintance, the well-known architect Georges-Henri Pingusson, who carried out various works in the Saarland district after the war.

The monument was restored several times, at which time the colours of, among other things, the sash and the stylised medals were changed. To commemorate the inauguration, a series of bronze castings were made from a model of the monument, height approx. 42 cm - one such sculpture is in the collection of Villa le Fleur in Konstancin.