Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Burtaigne Hotel is a patrician residence built in Metz in the first half of the 16th century, during the Renaissance, by the Gournay family, an influential member of the Messinian paraiges. Built in the last years of the Messina Republic, it illustrates the architectural transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with a facade decorated with ground bands and grotesque sculptures. Its strategic location near La Seille, near Champ-à-Seille (now Coislin Square), made it a central place for local commerce and politics. The hotel was mentioned for the first time in 1531 during the marriage of Claude de Gournay, marked by the collapse of his gallery, an event reported by the chronicles of the time without causing any casualties.

Over the centuries, the Burtaigne hotel has housed a variety of figures reflecting the history of Metz: the free city of Empire under the Gournay, the French royal city in the 18th century when it hosts the General Farm (ancestor of the Public Treasury), and shopping center with wine and iron companies. It was also the birthplace of Generals Munier, actors of the Second Empire wars, and the framework of charitable works led by Caroline Colchen Carré de Malberg and Anne-Marie-Célestine Michel, founders of orphanages and secular associations. Its architecture, modified in the 17th and 18th centuries (windows enlarged, staircase of honour added), preserves Renaissance elements such as carved medallions and entrance porch.

Ranked a historic monument in 2006 after a restoration campaign initiated in the 1970s by historian Jean-Marie Diligent, the hotel underwent major changes: partial destruction of the commons in the 20th century, neo-Renaissance reconstruction in 1906, and damage during the Second World War. The cellars, of medieval origin, reveal a construction in several phases, with arches perpendicular or parallel to the street. Today, after decades of various divisions and uses (housing, warehouses, printing), the site is being rehabilitated by the François 1er Group, marking a new stage in its multi-series history.

A tenacious myth, but unfounded, claims that the hotel would have served as the headquarters of the Duke of Guise during the siege of Metz by Charles Quint in 1552. Historical sources contradict this allegation, emphasizing its residential and economic role. The Gournay, the original owners, were linked to the Lorraine nobility and Messina governance, as evidenced by the presence of Michel de Gournay, advisor to Duke Antoine de Lorraine. The building, divided into two buildings in the 19th century (nos 4 and 6 place des Charrons), also housed a Protestant temple in the 17th century for the Calvinist Swiss mercenaries of the garrison, tolerated despite the revocation of the edict of Nantes.

The successive assignments of the hotel reflect the changes of Metz: the headquarters of the General Farm under Louis XV, the wine and iron trade in the 19th and 20th centuries, and a place of memory with the social works of Anne-Marie-Célestine Michel, close to Bishop Pelt. Recent restorations have found original elements, such as the Renaissance chimney or the 17th century panelling, while incorporating contemporary modifications. Its complete classification in 2006 enshrines its heritage importance, combining local history, architecture and collective memory.

External links