Strasbourg 9 et 11 boulevard de la Victoire (03)

The ''Neustadt'' (German for ''New Town'') is a district of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2017, the heart of the district was listed as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

, as an extension of the site including the older city centre ( Grande Île) and

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

. The district is a unique example of city planning, merging the Haussmannian model with elements of Germanic architecture and urban planning.

History and description

The Neustadt district was created by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

during the Reichsland period (1871–1918) to serve as a new city center. As opposed to the old town on the Grande Île, which in 1871 had more narrow and crooked streets and less squares than today, the new town was conceived along monumental

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

s and broad, rectilinear streets that were seen as modern, healthy and easy to police. In order to gain the necessary space, several belts of

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s, mostly dating from the years 1519–1552, and 1630–1681, were torn down; remains of these are found with each archaeological excavation in the area. Many architectural styles were used for the construction of the Neustadt, mostly on a grand scale:

Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculpt ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

, often a mixture of several or all of these styles (

Historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely ...

). At the end of the 19th century, at the same time as a new building material,

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

, a new and better defined style appeared as well:

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. The Neustadt comprises a number of public buildings and monuments that are today classified as

Monuments historiques ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

, such as: *

Palais du Rhin The Palais du Rhin ( en, Palace of the Rhine), the former ''Kaiserpalast'' (Imperial palace), is a building situated in the German (north-east) quarter of Strasbourg ( Neustadt) dominating the '' Place de la République'' (the former ''Kaiserplatz' ...

, former palace of the

German Emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

s * University Palace (also the

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. ...

, the zoological museum, the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

etc.) *

National and University Library The National and University Library (french: Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire; abbreviated BNU) is a public library in Strasbourg, France. It is located on Place de la République, the former ''Kaiserplatz'', and faces the '' Palais du ...

National Theatre of Strasbourg The National Theatre of Strasbourg is a palace building on Strasbourg's Place de la République, now occupied by a theatre company of the same name, the National Theatre of Strasbourg (''Théâtre national de Strasbourg'', TNS). The TNS was orig ...

, the former Parliament building of Alsace-Lorraine * Palais de Justice * Palais des Fêtes * St Paul's Church * Strasbourg railway station * Hôtel Brion *

Villa Schutzenberger The Villa Schutzenberger, also known as Hôtel Schutzenberger (german: link=no, Schützenberger) is an Art Nouveau hôtel particulier on allée de la Robertsau in the Neustadt district of Strasbourg, in the French department of the Bas-Rhin. It h ...

* 22, Rue du Général de Castelnau *

56, Allée de la Robertsau The House on 56, Allée de la Robertsau is an Art Nouveau building in the Neustadt district of Strasbourg, France. It is classified as a Monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1975. The house was built from 1902 until 1903 ...

and also landmarks that are not classified as Monuments historiques (as of 2019), such as the

Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic Church Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic Church (french: Église Saint Pierre-le-Jeune catholique) is a late 19th-century Catholic church dedicated to Saint Peter in Strasbourg, France. It is not to be confused with the medieval Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Prote ...

Notable architects

* Fritz Beblo * Berninger & Krafft * Jean Geoffroy Conrath *

Hermann Eggert Georg Peter Hermann Eggert (3 January 1844 – 12 March 1920) was a German architect. He designed important public buildings such as the Frankfurt Main Station and the New Town Hall in Hannover, often in the style of Neo-Renaissance. Career Bo ...

August Hartel August Hartel (26 February 1844 – 18 February 1890) was a German architect. Born in Cologne, Hartel was a student and later an employee of . Together with Theodor Quester, he operated an office in Krefeld, which planned in 1877 the in Gothic ...

* Johann Eduard Jacobsthal * Ludwig Levy * Lütke & Backes *

Skjold Neckelmann Skjold Neckelmann (born November 24, 1854 - May 13, 1903) was a Danish-German architect, best known for designing four Strasbourg buildings that are landmarks of the Neustadt district - the National and University Library, the National Theatr ...

* August Orth * Otto Warth

References

Literature

*Recht, Roland; Foessel, Georges; Klein, Jean-Pierre: ''Connaître Strasbourg'', 1988, , pages 253–272 *Bengel, Sabine; Jordan, Benoît; Nohlen, Klaus; Werlé, Maxime et al.: ''Strasbourg, de la Grande Île à la Neustadt, un patrimoine urbain exceptionnel'', 2013, *Rapetti, Rodolphe; Schnitzler, Bernadette; et al.: ''Strasbourg 1900, naissance d'une capitale'', 2000, *Befort, Paul-André; Daul Léon; Kontzler Chantal; Lery Pierre: ''Strasbourg 1900, carrefour des arts nouveaux'', 2010, *Doucet, Hervé; Haegel, Olivier; Pottecher, Marie; et al.: ''La Neustadt de Strasbourg : un laboratoire urbain (1871-1930)'', 2017,

External links

''La Neustadt : quartier impérial et université''
on strasbourg.eu
''La Neustadt''
on patrimoine-neustadt-strasbourg.fr

on otstrasbourg.fr *Cathy Blanc-Reibel
The case of Neustadt (Strasbourg), Co-construction of an Urban and Architectural Heritage
Revue des sciences sociales, 15 July 2017. {{Authority control Geography of Strasbourg