Palais Rohan Audio Guide

Palais Rohan: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Palais Rohan

   Welcome to the Palais Rohan, on the Place du Château in the historic heart of Strasbourg, right beside the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Take a moment to look at the façade in front of you. It is calm, noble and classical, and it looks as if it belongs on a grand Paris street rather than in an Alsatian old town. That is exactly what its designers intended. This was the residence of the prince-bishops and cardinals of the House of Rohan, an ancient French noble family originally from Brittany. It was built between 1732 and 1742, and it is considered one of the finest architectural creations of eighteenth-century France. Today it holds three of the city's most important museums, so the palace is both a monument and a treasure chest. Over the next few stops we will look at why a bishop wanted a palace like this, how it was designed, and how it has been used since. It has been a prison, a medical school, a university and a stage for presidents. Let's start by getting our bearings.

2. 02

   A Bishop, an Architect and a Parisian Dream

   The palace is the result of a meeting between two remarkable people. One was Cardinal Armand-Gaston-Maximilien de Rohan-Soubise, prince-bishop of Strasbourg. The other was Robert de Cotte, Principal Architect to the King. Between 1732 and 1742, de Cotte's plans turned the cardinal's ambitions into stone. The building did not rise on empty ground. It replaced the earlier episcopal palace, on a site where a bishop's residence is recorded since at least 1262. Even the square holds deep layers of history. An archaeological excavation on the Place du Château has explored a past stretching from Roman legionaries to the builders of the cathedral. The style tells its own story too. The classical manner became fashionable in Strasbourg after the French conquest of the city, and this palace was designed to resemble one of the great Parisian mansions. So you are looking at a piece of Paris placed beside one of the grandest Gothic cathedrals in Europe.

3. 03

   Four Cardinals and a Famous Scandal

   Why is it called the Palais Rohan? Because in the eighteenth century, four prince-bishops of the Rohan family succeeded one another at the head of the diocese of Strasbourg. The palace was their home, and their name stayed with it. The most notorious of them was Cardinal Louis-René de Rohan, nephew of the one who commissioned the palace's predecessor in the family line. He became entangled in the Affair of the Queen's Necklace, one of the great scandals of the French monarchy before the Revolution. When you walk through these halls, remember that the palace belonged to people who moved at the highest levels of church and court. The entrance reflects that status. Visitors pass through a grand portal, a monumental arch topped with statues representing Clemency and Religion. It leads into the cour d'honneur, the courtyard of honor, flanked on the left and right by the administrative and utility buildings that kept a princely household running.

4. 04

   Prison, University, Museums and Presidents

   After the bishops, the palace had many lives. During the French Revolution it served as a place of detention. Then, on 21 December 1794, the solemn opening of a military health officers' school in Strasbourg took place, with its classes held here in the palace. The next change came after the German annexation of Strasbourg. Between 1872 and 1884 the palace housed the faculties of law, philosophy and sciences of the newly established Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität, until the Palais universitaire opened. Since the end of the nineteenth century, it has been home to museums: the Archaeological Museum in the basement, the Museum of Decorative Arts on the ground floor, and the Museum of Fine Arts on the first and second floors. The Galerie Robert Heitz, in a lateral wing, hosts temporary exhibitions. The palace has been a listed historic monument since 1920. It was restored after the bombings of 1944, and it still receives distinguished guests. On 3 April 2009, during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, it hosted the first meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the newly elected American President Barack Obama.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   The Palais Rohan rewards slow looking. Step back across the square and compare the calm, ordered façade with the soaring cathedral beside it. Two very different ideas of grandeur sit side by side. If you go inside, you can follow the palace's story from the bottom up. Archaeology lies in the basement, decorative arts on the ground floor and fine arts above. The terrace has even hosted contemporary work, including the glass and architecture competition winners shown there in 2015. Afterwards, the old town is right at your feet. Its cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and the riverbanks of the Ill lead toward Petite France. Keep wondering what the palace's walls have seen, from bishops to revolutionaries to presidents. There is always another room, and another story, to look for.