Palais du Rhin
The Palais du Rhin (German: Rheinpalast ), formerly the Imperial Palace , on the Place de la République in Strasbourg , was built between 1884 and 1889 and is one of the most striking buildings in the city. The entire complex is one of the most complete examples of German monumental architecture of the late 19th century.
location
The heavy building, dominated by a pimple hood-like dome, is surrounded by a spacious garden with a high wrought iron grille. The main facade closes off the spacious Place de la République (former "Kaiserplatz"), which is bordered by the other mighty government buildings (former Alsace-Lorraine state parliament , today Théâtre national de Strasbourg , former state administration, today Préfecture du Bas-Rhin ). The former royal stables (built in 1885) is located behind the palace, on the corner of today's Rue du Maréchal Foch and Rue du Général Frère . The only partially preserved building is marked by a horse's head above the main portal.
history
The Imperial Palace was laid out as a palace for the Emperor of the German Empire and as a testimony to the annexation of the state of Alsace-Lorraine and started on the occasion of Wilhelm I's 87th birthday on March 22, 1884 according to plans by the architect Hermann Eggert (1844–1920). The building, which was heavily criticized for its exorbitant costs (3 million gold marks ) and its pompous neo-Renaissance style (vaguely modeled on the Palazzo Pitti ), was completed in 1889 and inaugurated by Wilhelm II in the same year . He stayed in the building at least once a year until 1914, without particularly appreciating its architecture (it was nicknamed the "elephant stable" because it is said to have reminded him of the elephant house in the zoo in Berlin's Tiergarten ).
During the First World War the building was used as a hospital. In 1920 it became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and was given its new name. In 1940 the palace became the headquarters of the National Socialist local government, then from November 1944 into the headquarters of French Major General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque . The palace was badly damaged in the course of the bombing of the city by the Royal and US Air Force in August 1944.
Nowadays the building, which has been extensively restored externally and internally, not only houses the ZKRS, but also the Alsatian Direction régionale des Affaires culturelles (DRAC).
In 2008, the palace served as the backdrop for the shooting of the French multi-part TV series La Résistance . For this purpose, the Paris Gestapo headquarters (originally in the Hôtel Lutetia ) was recreated.
literature
- Alain Hauss: Strasbourg: Le Palais du Rhin. The former imperial palace (= Images du Patrimoine. Bd. 165). Strasbourg 2000, ISBN 2-913302-23-8 .
- Klaus Nohlen : Building policy in the realm of Alsace-Lorraine: 1871-1918. The representative state buildings around the former Kaiserplatz in Strasbourg. Mann, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-7861-1318-1 .
- Niels Wilcken: Architecture in the Border Area. Public construction in Alsace-Lorraine (1871-1918) (= publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland. Vol. 38). Saarbrücken 2000.
Web links
- Description and photos ( Memento of December 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (French)
- Numerous exterior and interior views (French)
- The Palais du Rhin as a 3D model in SketchUp's 3D warehouse
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 48 ° 35 ′ 15.5 ″ N , 7 ° 45 ′ 9 ″ E