Neustadt, Strasbourg


The Neustadt is a district of Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. In 2017, the heart of the district was confirmed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

History and description

The Neustadt district was created by the Germans during the Reichsland period to serve as a new city center. As opposed to the old town on the Grande Île, which in 1871 had more narrow and crooked streets and less squares than today, the new town was conceived along monumental boulevards and broad, rectilinear streets that were seen as modern, healthy and easy to police. In order to gain the necessary space, several belts of fortifications, mostly dating from the years 1519–1552, and 1630–1681, were torn down; remains of these are found with each archaeological excavation in the area. Many architectural styles were used for the construction of the Neustadt, mostly on a grand scale: Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, often a mixture of several or all of these styles. At the end of the 19th century, at the same time as a new building material, reinforced concrete, a new and better defined style appeared as well: Art Nouveau.
The Neustadt comprises a number of public buildings and monuments that are today classified as Monuments historiques, such as:
and also landmarks that are not classified as Monuments historiques, such as the Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic Church.

Notable architects of the Neustadt