Creation of the Paris Provost Marshal 1032 (≈ 1032)
The distant origin of the Parisian police
1900
Universal exposure
Universal exposure 1900 (≈ 1900)
Initial collection of museum exhibits
1909
Museum Foundation
Museum Foundation 1909 (≈ 1909)
Created by the Prefect Louis Lépine
2017
Removal project
Removal project 2017 (≈ 2017)
Transfer envisaged dock of goldsmiths
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Louis Lépine - Police prefect
Founder of the museum in 1909
Beaumarchais - Revolutionary personality
Exposed arrest order
Charlotte Corday - Revolutionary figure
Arrest order retained
Landru - Famous Crimel
Judicial record
Origin and history
The Museum of Police Prefecture, also known as the historical collections of the police prefecture, is a museum space located at 4 rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. Installed on the third floor of the police hotel, it covers an area of 300 m2 and offers a chronological path on the evolution of the police, from the provost of Paris (1032) to the modern municipal police. His collections include rare documents such as royal stamp letters, nut registers or exhibits related to famous cases.
The museum was founded in 1909 under the impetus of prefect Louis Lépine, from the objects gathered for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Complemented by donations and acquisitions, its collections now depend on the Memory and Cultural Affairs Service (SMAC) of the prefecture. The archives exhibited come from the institution's permanent archives, which are responsible for preserving the historical documents of the Paris police.
Among the flagship pieces, the museum presents orders to arrest revolutionary figures (Beaumarchais, Danton, Charlotte Corday) or significant criminal cases, such as the Queen's necklace case, the Landru trial, or anarchist attacks. A move to 36, quai des Orfèvres (Island of the City) was envisaged after 2017 to expand the exhibition space, then considered too small.
Accessible via Maubert Metro Station - Mutuality (line 10), the museum highlights historical costumes and objects related to emblematic investigations, such as those of the Bonnot band or the Petiot case. His journey illustrates the technical and social changes of the police, from the Ancien Régime to the contemporary era.
Propose an amendment
Collection
Du prévôt de Paris (1032) à la police municipale telle qu'on la connaît, le musée propose un parcours chronologique mettant en scène les différentes étapes et mutations de ce corps.
De nombreux documents historiques (registres d'écrou, lettres de cachet signées du roi, pièces à conviction...) rendent ce musée attrayant.
On trouve ainsi, sur la période révolutionnaire, les ordres d'arrestation de Beaumarchais, Lavoisier, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Charlotte Corday, Danton et Madame Roland...
