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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Klinglin hotel was built between 1731 and 1736 by the royal preteur François-Joseph de Klinglin on a communal land in Strasbourg, using municipal labour. The latter managed to sell the building to the city, which had financed the construction of the building, provided that it housed the pretor. His malfeasance, revealed by an audit, led to his arrest in 1752 and his death in custody a year later, thus avoiding a public trial.

After the French Revolution, the hotel became the headquarters of the governorship of Alsace, then in 1790, that of the General Council of Bas-Rhin with the creation of the departments. The prefectural reform of 1800 under Bonaparte made it the official residence of the prefects of the Lower Rhine, marking its anchor in the central administration. Its history reflects political upheavals, from a symbol of local royal power to a republican institution.

At the time of the Alsatian annexation in 1870, the hotel was burned during the siege of Strasbourg by the Prussians, then rebuilt identically with some modifications (lower roof, added balcony). It became the Strasbourg residence of Emperor William I, housing an imperial suite on the first floor, while Edward von Möller, high president of Alsace-Lorraine, occupied the rest of the building. After 1879 he served as palace to the Statthalter (imperial governors), embodying German authority over the region.

Back to France in 1919, the hotel will once again house the Bas-Rhin prefecture and, from 1964 onwards, the Alsace region (now the Grand Est). Despite his administrative role, he exceptionally opened his doors on European Heritage Days, revealing heritage elements such as a Bechstein piano in the hall of honour. Its classification in 1970 protects its facades, its court of honor, and its gardens, witnesses of four centuries of Alsatian history.

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