The Hôtel des Deux-Ponts, formerly known as the Hôtel Gayot and currently as the Hôtel du gouverneur militaire, is a historic building located on Place Broglie on the Grande Île in the city center of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, in the French department of the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

. It has been classified as a Monument historique since 1921. The Hôtel des Deux-Ponts is currently used as the official residence of the military governor of Strasbourg.

History

The Hôtel was designed as a

hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

for the brothers, royal moneylenders François-Marie Gayot and Félix-Anne Gayot and built in 1754-55 featuring a courtyard, two ornate façades, a grand portal and a French garden. In 1770, it was sold by François-Marie Gayot to

count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Christian IV of Zweibrücken ( = = ). Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, the future King Maximilian I of Bavaria lived there from 1770 until 1790. His son and successor on the Bavarian throne, Ludwig I of Bavaria, was born in this palace on 25 August 1786. The hôtel became state-owned (''bien public'') in the wake of the French Revolution in 1791 and has served as the official residence for military governors and chiefs of staff since, including during the periods when Strasbourg was a German town again (1871–1918 and 1940–1944). It is not open for tourists apart on special days such as European Heritage Days.

Gallery

Strasbourg hotZweibrucken17.jpg, Panoramic view through the garden on Place Broglie Strasbourg-Hôtel des Deux-Ponts-Plaque.jpg, Plaque for Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Strasbourg-Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (2).jpg, Main portal on ''Rue brûlée''. The courtyard right behind is rarely seen. Strasbourg hotZweibrucken06.jpg, Lower part of entrance hall Strasbourg hotZweibrucken05.jpg, Ceiling of entrance hall with a fresco by Joseph Melling (1785) Strasbourg hotZweibrucken12.jpg, A working and reception room

References

External links

*
''Hôtel du gouverneur militaire - place Broglie''
on archi-wiki.org

Literature

*Recht, Roland; Foessel, Georges; Klein, Jean-Pierre: ''Connaître Strasbourg'', 1988, , pages 119–120

History

Gallery

References

External links

Literature

See also