Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former hall of Belfort, today the Jules Heidet school, finds its origins in the second half of the 16th century, when a first construction was erected near the collegiate Saint-Denis. The building was rebuilt around 1567 on the same site. Under the Mazarin administration, it becomes a multi-purpose building: a shopping hall, a court seat, a prison and a county administrative centre. This multifunctionality reflects its importance in the local social and political organization of the time.

In the Revolution, the building houses the administration of the district and the sub-prefecture in Year VIII (1799-1800). In 1827, the town of Belfort became its owner and established a college. Between 1845 and 1847, architect Diogene Poisat carried out important works: reconstruction of the roof, the first floor and part of the ground floor. The building then evolved into an application school (1880), then into a teacher's normal school until 1910, before becoming a primary school again.

The building, rectangular with four wings around a courtyard, includes a partial basement, a ground floor, a floor and an attic. It is registered with the Historical Monuments in 2004 for its totality, including the court floor. Its architecture and successive uses illustrate the urban and educational transformations of Belfort over more than four centuries.

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