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

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 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, as an extension of the site including the older city centre ( Grande Île) and Strasbourg Cathedral. The district is a unique example of city planning, merging the Haussmannian model with elements of German architecture and urban planning. Aside from the Imperial Quarter of

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, the Neustadt district of Strasbourg contains the most complete and best-preserved examples of urbanism under the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. In Germany itself, the comparable districts of such cities often suffered the bombardment by Allied forces in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History and description

The Neustadt district was created by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

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 fewer

squares In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

than today, the new town was conceived along monumental boulevards 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 (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

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, Renaissance Revival,

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

, Romanesque Revival, often a mixture of several or all of these styles ( Historicism). At the end of the 19th century, at the same time as a new building material,

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

, a new and better defined style appeared as well:

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

. The Neustadt comprises a number of public buildings and monuments that are today classified as Monuments historiques, such as: * Palais du Rhin, former palace of the German Emperors * University Palace (also the

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

, 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. is ...

etc.) * National and University Library * National Theatre of Strasbourg, the former Parliament building of Alsace-Lorraine * Palais de Justice * Palais des Fêtes * St Paul's Church * Strasbourg railway station * Hôtel Brion * Villa Schutzenberger * 22, Rue du Général de Castelnau * 56, Allée de la Robertsau and also landmarks that are not classified as Monuments historiques (as of 2019), such as the Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic Church.

Notable architects

* Fritz Beblo * Berninger & Krafft * Jean Geoffroy Conrath * Hermann Eggert * August Hartel * Johann Eduard Jacobsthal * Ludwig Levy * Lütke & Backes * Skjold Neckelmann * 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