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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Serano barracks, located at 15 rue d'Angoulême in Neuf-Brisach (Haut-Rhin), were built in 1704 under the supervision of military engineer Jacques Tarade, following Vauban's plans for the fortification of the city. Integrated into the Alsatian defensive system, it initially housed a regiment, with a rectangular brick structure and rubble, similar to the Suzonni barracks. This building, one of the four planned, is the only one partially remaining after the destructions of the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.

Declassified in 1921 as the Moll Barracks, it was bought by industrialist Alphonse Elter, who converted it into a cloth warehouse for the manufacture of paper. Gravely damaged by a bombardment in 1945, only one fifth of its original surface remained. The surviving part, acquired by the commune and then by a certain Sérano (who gave it its current name), then served as housing for foreign workers before being decommissioned in the 1990s.

Architecturally, the current vestige preserves original elements such as sandstone angle links, floor bandages and a rump marking the original end. Ranked a historic monument in 1989 for its facades and roofs, the barracks illustrate the military heritage of Neuf-Brisach, a new town founded by Louis XIV and designed by Vauban. Its history also reflects the successive reallocations of public buildings from military to civil or industrial use.

Today, the Serano barracks are communal property, reflecting urban transformations and conflicts in Alsace. Its partial condition and its modifications (loss of 4/5 of the building, destruction of a NCO pavilion) recall the hazards of its past, between strategic utility, economic conversion and late heritage preservation.

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