The Place de la République ((, "

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

Square"; former , "Imperial Square") is one of the main

square 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 ...

s of the city 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 ...

, France. It is surrounded on three sides by five buildings only, of which none is residential: the Palais du Rhin, the National and University Library, the Théâtre national de Strasbourg, the

Préfecture In France, a prefecture (, ) may be: * the , the commune in which the administration of a department is located; * the , the commune in which the administration of a region is located; * the jurisdiction of a prefecture; * the official residence ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

and

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 ...

, and the tax center ''Hôtel des impôts''. All of these buildings are classified as ''

monuments historiques () 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 collection of buildings, ...

''. The fourth side of the square is devoid of buildings, facing the Faux-Rempart Canal.

Description and history

The Place de la République is a square (four sides of identical lengths) surrounding a circular public garden crossed by a north-west and a south-east axis. The area was originally occupied by a section of the city walls, which were demolished after the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. An ancient

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...

was located on grounds near to the river; it is assumed to be the place where the Jews of Strasbourg were burned at the stake in 1349. The Place de la République was designed by architect Jean-Geoffroy Conrath (1824–1892) during the Reichsland period as the conspicuous and grandiose entrance of the Neustadt opposite the ancient Grande Île city center on the other side of the

Ill ILL, or Ill, or ill may refer to: Places * Ill (France), a river in Alsace, France, tributary of the Rhine * Ill (Vorarlberg), a river in Vorarlberg, Austria, tributary of the Rhine * Ill (Saarland), a river of Saarland, Germany, tributary o ...

. The layout and construction of the square began in 1880. It was then called ''Kaiserplatz'' ("Imperial Square" or "Emperor Square"). ''

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...

'' trees, which were presented by

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

of Japan to his German counterpart (either Wilhelm I or

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

, depending on the source), were planted in the central garden in the 1880s; those trees still stand today. Conversely, a purple beech and a fern-leaf beech, planted between 1883 and 1887, were felled by a storm in the night of the 19–20 June 2019.
In the very centre of the square stands a

War memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

statue by

Léon-Ernest Drivier Léon-Ernest Drivier (22 October 1878, Grenoble – 8 January 1951, Paris), was a French illustrator and sculptor. Biography He entered the École des Beaux-Arts, then worked from 1907 in the studio of Auguste Rodin. He was a friend of the sculp ...

, inaugurated in 1936. It represents a mother holding two dead sons, alluding to the dual nature of Strasbourg's History between Germany and France. The memorial replaces an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

of Emperor Wilhelm I, commissioned in 1897, that stood on the square from 1911 until 1918.

Palais du Rhin

The former Imperial Palace is surrounded by its own garden, which is separated from the square by a monumental

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

fence. The Palace, a solemn Neorenaissance building crowned with a heavy

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, was built from 1884 until 1887 by

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 B ...

. It is used as the seat of the

Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR; ; ; ) is an international organisation with five member countries, whose function is to encourage European prosperity by guaranteeing a high level of security for navigation of the Rhi ...

since 1920 and also houses the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles (DRAC) of Grand Est. It is classified as a ''monument historique'' since 1993.

Théâtre national de Strasbourg

The building now housing the Théâtre national de Strasbourg (TNS) was originally built as the seat of the Parliament () of Alsace-Lorraine. It was designed by

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 Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefel ...

and Skjold Neckelmann in a radically different Neorenaissance style than Hermann Eggert's, and built in 1888–1889. It is classified as a ''monument historique'' since 1992.

National and University Library

The ''Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire'' (BNU) was built from 1889 until 1895, also in the Neorenaissance style, again by Hartel and Neckelmann. It is classified as a ''monument historique'' since 2004.

Hôtel des impôts

This

Baroque Revival The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

building was built from 1899 until 1902 by Ludwig Levy, the architect of the Great Synagogue of Strasbourg. It was originally used as the seat of several ministries: agriculture, infrastructure and finances. It is classified as a ''monument historique'' since 1996.

Préfecture

The ''Préfecture de la région Grand-Est et du département du Bas-Rhin'' (not to be confused with the residence of the prefect, the '' Hôtel du préfet'') was built from 1907 until 1911, based on designs by Ludwig Levy. The façade was decorated with statues of lions by

Alfred Marzolff Frédéric Alfred Marzolff (1867-1936) was a French people, French sculptor and medallist, known especially for his monumental figures. Biography His father was a Cooper (profession), master cooper. He completed an apprenticeship with the sc ...

. The building also housed ministries of Alsace-Lorraine. It is a more austere example of Baroque Revival architecture than its older counterpart. It is classified as a ''monument historique'' since 1996.

Aby Warburg Spiral

A work of art called ''Spirale Aby Warburg, le monument aux vivants'' ("

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the ''Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg'' (Warburg Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, which was later m ...

spiral, the monument to those who live") by Luxembourgish artist Bert Theis (1952–2016) was installed on the square in 2002. It can be and is used as a bench.

Pont du Théâtre

The Place de la République and the Grande Île city center are connected by the stone arch bridge ''Pont du Théâtre'' (1869–1870). That bridge was reinforced with concrete and partly modified in 1999–2000 in order to allow for the passage of the tramway (see below, "Transportation").

Transportation

As of 2017, the Place de la République is served by the

Strasbourg tramway The Strasbourg tramway (, ; ), run by the Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois, CTS, is a network of six tramlines, A, B, C, D, E and F that operate in the cities of Strasbourg in Alsace, France, and Kehl in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is ...

lines B, C, E and F, and by the

CTS Cts or CTS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * Chinese Television System, a Taiwanese broadcast television station, including: ** CTS Main Channel () ** CTS Education and Culture () ** CTS Recreation () ** CTS News and Info ...

buses 15a and 72.

References

External links

Place de la République (Strasbourg)
on archi-wiki.org {{coord, 48.58721, 7.75397, region:FR_type:landmark, display=title Squares in Strasbourg 1880s architecture 1890s architecture 1900s architecture