The architectural heritage of Strasbourg is incredibly rich and bears living witness to all of the influences that have shaped the city throughout its history.
Strasbourg, which celebrated its bimillenium in 1988, was founded in 12 B.C. A free city in the Germanic Holy Roman Empire, Strasbourg enjoyed a golden age in the Middle Ages. A flourishing commercial centre thanks to the wealth of its natural blessings, the city slowly constructed its marvellous Notre Dame Cathedral in pink sandstone. Completed in 1439, its height of 142 m made this "prodigy of the gigantic and the delicate" (Victor Hugo) the tallest edifice in Christendom until the nineteenth century.
Strasbourg city centre ("La Grande Ile") is on the UNESCO world heritage list. A stroll around Strasbourg reveals the splendours of the old part of the city from the cathedral to La Petite France, the banks of the River Ill, parks and gardens and pedestrian areas. Here and there, the tourist will find himself confronted by a grand monument which bears emphatic witness to the public life of its time.
Sheltering in the shadow of the Cathedral, since its foundation in 1246, the Oeuvre Notre-Dame has been responsible for the construction, repair and maintenance of Strasbourg's Cathedral. It employs sculptors and stone cutters, and houses a remarkable architectural and photographic collection. It is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Europe still working. The Musée de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame offers one of the most exquisite collections of mediaeval art in France, if not Europe.
Sitting at the edge of the River Ill, the Ancienne Douane (Former Customs House), a vast edifice with crenellated gables, evokes the intense economic activity of the city in which it was used as a goods warehouse. As for the towers of the Ponts Couverts, they are the remains of the fortifications which encircled the city to ensure its security and freedom.
Beautiful Renaissance houses still stand: the Ancienne Grande Boucherie, the Hôtel de la Chambre de Commerce, the Maison Kammerzell, the Hostellerie du Corbeau and all of the buildings in the Quartier des Tanneurs.
On the banks of the River Ill, the tourist will be enthralled by the splendid Palais des Rohan (Rohan Palace) which was constructed between 1732 and 1742 at the request of Louis-Armand-Gaston de Rohan-Soubise, Imperial Prince, Cardinal and Bishop of Strasbourg under Louis XV. He made it his principal residence in the historic heart of the city. In addition to the sumptuous Cardinals' apartments, you can pay a visit to the Musée d'Archéologie (Archaeological Museum), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) and the Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts Museum).
Throughout the twists and turns of history, the city continued to develop. After the annexation which followed the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the German Empire, was keen to extend the city. It was at this period that the Place de la République was constructed, with the TNS building, the Grande Poste, the current offices of the Regional Executive for Cultural Affairs, once the imperial palace, and the Prefecture and Bibliothèque Nationale de Strasbourg (Strasbourg National Library). All listed historic monuments!
In a completely different style, the Aubette or "Sistine Chapel of contemporary art", is situated on the Place Kléber. At the end of the 1920s, it was a vast leisure complex. On four floors, three artists, Théo Van Doesburg, Jean Arp and Sophie Täuber-Arp, designed a cinema-ballroom, a community centre, a foyer bar, a brasserie, a tea room and a billiards room with revolutionary decors. Modern art was abandoning the world of museums to occupy a living space. A souvenir of this period, the Aubette is currently undergoing renovation to restore its original aesthetic and its function as a meeting place in the city centre.
The European District is one of many examples of the brilliance of Strasbourg's modern architecture. The French architect, Henry Bernard designed the Council of Europe building "to affirm by its solid external form that unity is strength, while at the same time in its cheerful and pleasant curved interior reflecting the atmosphere of trust and cordiality necessary for the free confrontation of ideas."
