Palais du Rhin

The Palais du Rhin stands at 2 Place de la République in the Neustadt of Strasbourg, in the Grand Est region of France. It was built between 1883 and 1889 as the Kaiserpalast, the imperial residence of Wilhelm I and his successors when they visited the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen, to plans by the Berlin architect Hermann Eggert. The palace is a neo-Renaissance building in sandstone with a central dome, and it forms the main axis of the German-planned Place de la République, facing the National and University Library and the Théâtre National de Strasbourg. The interiors included state rooms, a throne room and a chapel decorated with mosaics and sculpture in a style that evokes Italian and Byzantine models. After the return of Alsace to France in 1918 the building became a residence for French officials and then a university and cultural space, and during the Second World War it was used by the German occupiers. After 1945 the palace housed the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, the oldest international organisation in Europe, which still occupies it, and parts of it have served as a museum depot and for exhibition use. The building has been restored, and in 2017 it became part of the UNESCO listing together with the rest of the Neustadt. Access to the interior is restricted because of the institutional use, so most visitors view the exterior from the square, although the building is open to the public during the European Heritage Days in September, when guided visits are offered. The facade can be seen at any time, and the surrounding gardens are free to enter. The palace belongs to a group of monuments that together illustrate the imperial ambitions of the period, from the choice of a monumental Renaissance style to the careful placement of the building at the end of a main axis. It remains a symbol of the successive changes of nationality that have marked the city, and of its present role as a seat of European and international institutions.