Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The train station in Paris-Est, originally called "Strasbourg pier", was built between 1847 and 1850 by architect François-Alexandre Duquesney and engineer Pierre Cabanel de Sermet. Inaugurated in 1850 by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, it became a symbol of French railway development, with a neo-classical facade decorated with allegorical statues of Strasbourg and Verdun. Its location, chosen to bypass the east-parisian reliefs, was controversial, with some proposing the station of Austerlitz or Lyon as terminus.

In 1854, after a first expansion linked to the Mulhouse line, it took the name "Eastern Station". The station underwent major changes in 1885 and 1900, from 4 to 16 lanes, then was completely split between 1926 and 1931 under the direction of Jules Bernaut, adopting a perfect symmetry. It played a key role in the two world wars, serving as a mobilization point and sheltering an underground bunker built in 1941 under the occupation.

The station is famous for its hall adorned with Albert Herter's The Departure of the Hair (1926) painting, commemorating the soldiers of 1914, and for its Art Deco buffet offering Alsatian specialities. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1984 for its facades and halls, it was modernized in 2007 for the arrival of the TGV East, receiving a Brunel Award in 2008. Today, it combines main lines traffic (TGV, ICE, Nightjet) and suburbs (Transilien P), while remaining a cultural place, appearing in many films.

Its architecture combines neo-classicism and Art Deco, with a stone façade, allegorical statues (Strasbourg by Henri Lemaire, Verdun by Henri Varenne), and an Art Deco window covering the inner courtyard. The station was also the mythical starting point of the Orient Express in 1883 and the Trans-Europ Express in 1957. Its future includes the CDG Express project (2027) and a possible link with the Gare du Nord.

The Gare de l'Est embodies French railway history, between technical innovations (electrification in 1962), geopolitical issues (linking with Germany, Russia) and collective memory, notably through its role in world conflicts and its representation in cinema, from La Grande Vadrouille (1966) to Amélie Poulain (2001).

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