Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Haguenau Municipal Theatre, located in 2 Place du Maire-Guntz, was built between 1842 and 1846 under the direction of architect Charles-Alexandre-François Morin. This project marks an innovation for the city, being the first Hague building to use a railway structure ten years before the arrival of the railway. Its neo-classical style and its Vosges sandstone facade reflect a fusion between Baroque tradition and industrial modernity.

Registered as a historical monument by order of 19 January 1995, the theatre was completely restored in 2005. This renovation has improved the comfort, security and reception of the 450 spectators, while preserving its original features: an entrance rotunda, a stage communicating with lateral bodies housing decorations, homes and artists' lodges. The building thus illustrates the adaptation of theatres to the Italian language to contemporary techniques.

Owned by the municipality of Haguenau, the theatre is part of a dynamic urban context of the 19th century, when the Alsatian cities, like the Bas-Rhin, saw the development of cultural facilities for a growing bourgeoisie. Its architecture, combining cast iron and stone, also symbolizes the growing industrialization of the region, while serving as a social and artistic gathering place.

Historical sources, including the work of Jean-Paul Grasser (2000), highlight his central role in local cultural life from its inception. The internal metal structure, rare for the period, and the Italian style design – with its rotunda and functional spaces – make it a unique testimony of engineering and aesthetics of the mid-19th century in Alsace.

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