Hôtel de Hanau

Hôtel de Hanau
Hôtel de Hanau
Hanauer Hof
	Place Broglie facade of the Hôtel de Hanau at dusk
	Hôtel de Hanau in relation to the city of Strasbourg
Alternative names	Hôtel de ville de Strasbourg
General information
Type	Civic
Architectural style	Baroque
Location	Strasbourg, France
Coordinates	48°35′05″N 7°45′02″E / 48.58472°N 7.75056°E
Construction started	1731
Completed	1736
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Joseph Massol

The Hôtel de Hanau, also known as the Hôtel de ville and (in German) as the Hanauer Hof, is a historic building located on the Place Broglie on the Grande Île in the city center of Strasbourg, in the French department of the Bas-Rhin. It has been classified as a Monument historique since 1921.^[1]

History

The Hôtel de Hanau stands on a site originally owned by the rulers of Hanau-Lichtenberg, a county of the Holy Roman Empire. The current building, a typical hôtel particulier with a grand portal, a grand courtyard and two ornate façades, was commissioned by Johann Reinhard III, the last Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg, in 1728. It was constructed between 1731 and 1736 by Joseph Massol, who was also the executive architect of Palais Rohan at roughly the same time. It became state-owned (bien public) in 1790 in the wake of the French Revolution.

Today the building is the Hôtel de ville or city hall for the city of Strasbourg, a role it has had since 1805 and the first visit of Napoleon, who bestowed propriety of the hôtel to the city.^[2] It is now principally used for weddings, official receptions and banquets, whilst the administration of the city and the Strasbourg Eurométropole is run from the centre administratif (also known as mairie) near Parc de l'Étoile (built 1973–76). The city hall is not open for tourists apart on special days such as European Heritage Days.

Gallery

Ransacking of the former hôtel de ville by French Revolutionaries on 21 July 1789 (painting in the Musée historique de Strasbourg)
Grand portal to the courtyard on Rue brûlée (detail)
Center of the façade on the courtyard
Main reception room (current state). On the wall: 1790s Gobelins tapestry, copy after The Parnassus by Raphael
Wedding hall (current state)