Palais des Fêtes (Strasbourg)

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Coordinates: 48 ° 35 ′ 27 "  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 57"  E

Corner tower (status 2010)

The Palais des Fêtes (literally: "Festival Palace ") is a listed multi-purpose event building in Strasbourg's New Town , which is used for concerts , ballet and trade fairs . The building complex consists of the former "Singer House" (1903) and the extension "Salle de la Marseillaise" (1921). The palace has been classified as a Monument historique since 2007 .

history

Inauguration of the organ (1909)
Original frescoes and stucco reliefs of the concert hall, reappeared in 2018 (in unrestored condition, early 2019).

The oldest and largest part of the building was from 1900 to 1903 as the first Strasbourg concrete structures by architects Joseph Müller and Richard Kuder as a singer House built for the urban male voice choir. The first draft was presented in 1897 and the inauguration concert took place on January 31, 1903.

The centerpiece of the house, which is outwardly in Art Nouveau style , is the originally neo-baroque , 800 m² (deviating information: 850 m²) large and 14 m high "ballroom" with stucco and chandeliers with a gallery running through on three sides that can hold 1,300 listeners. On the stage of the hall is an organ , inaugurated in 1909 , which, like several other instruments in Strasbourg, was built by the Dalstein-Haerpfer house according to Albert Schweitzer's specifications . In 1904, the building was partially extended by the architects and additional halls were added. There was a restaurant on the ground floor that could host up to 300 guests.

In 1921, the architect Paul Dopff added an extension in the neo-renaissance style to the north of the singer house. The extension planned before the First World War was named Salle de la Marseillaise , after the rehearsal hall built for 300 choristers .

In 1933 the ballroom was redesigned in the New Objectivity style. The organ also lost its neo-baroque ornamentation.

During the Second World War, there was an air raid shelter below the building .

Until 1975, the Palais des Fêtes served as the concert hall of the Strasbourg Philharmonic , which moved to the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès in 1976 . Even Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss and Bruno Walter , Wilhelm Furtwangler , Herbert von Karajan and Karel Ančerl appeared as guest conductors. Nowadays the palace is only occasionally used for concerts. In the Marseillaise part is now the city ballet school ( Center chorégraphique de la ville de Strasbourg .)

The complete renovation of the palace has been underway since 2012 and probably until 2022. Construction work began with the northern extension, over whose inner courtyard a glass roof was drawn, creating a four-story atrium in 2014 . In 2018, during the total renovation of the concert hall, surprisingly, comparatively well-preserved fragments of the original, neo-baroque decoration of the vault appeared.

shape

The Palais des Fêtes with its extension extends over the entire length of rue de Phalsbourg and takes up half the width of the apartment block between (clockwise) boulevard Clémenceau - rue Specklin - rue Sellénick - rue de Phalsbourg . Despite its considerable area, however, its height is hardly highlighted from its immediate surroundings. Only the octagonal tower with a pointed roof has a pronounced signal character , which can also be easily seen from the avenue des Vosges, which was laid out in 1881 as the “Vosges Street” . The main entrance is on rue Sellénick , which was laid out in 1888 as " Julianstrasse " and was renamed " Sankt-Julian- Strasse" in the year of inauguration .

Web links

Commons : Palais des fêtes (Strasbourg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reference on a page of the French Ministry of Culture , accessed on May 18, 2015
  2. Varela, Gilles: Strasbourg: La musique va bientôt retentir à nouveau au Palais des fêtes , 20minutes.fr, accessed on January 24, 2020
  3. Kuntz, Fanny: A Strasbourg, la deuxième phase de travaux du Palais des fêtes touche à sa fin , video report, Alsace 20, accessed on January 30, 2020