Rohan Castle also known as Château Neuf (New Castle), is a Neoclassicist

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 monumental building in the city of Saverne

Saverne

Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...

 in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The 140 metre wide façade of red vosges

Vosges mountains

For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...

 sandstone is considered to be one of the most impressive examples of its kind.

The building was erected between 1780 and 1790 by the architect Nicolas Salins de Montfort on the site of the previous building, which had been built in 1670 and burned down in 1779. This previous building had in turn replaced the small Château Vieux (Old Castle) of 1417, which is still preserved today. That building saw two of the three marriages of Charles, Prince de Soubise; firstly in 1741 to Anne Therese of Savoy and secondly to Anne Victoire of Hesse-Rotenburg in 1745.

The architect of the new castle had been commissioned by the Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 Prince-Bishop

Prince-Bishop

A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...

 Louis René Édouard de Rohan-Guéméné, who also resided in the magnificent Rohan Palace

Palais Rohan, Strasbourg

The Palais Rohan is one of the most important buildings in the city of Strasbourg in Alsace, France. It represents not only the high point of local baroque architecture, according to widespread opinion among art historians, but has also housed three of the most important museums in the city since...

 in the city where he held office, as well as in the less stately Rohan Castle of Mutzig

Château des Rohan (Mutzig)

The Château des Rohan is a former castle and weapons factory now serving as a museum and cultural centre in the French town of Mutzig, Bas-Rhin, Alsace. The castle, whose structure goes back to the 13th century, belonged to several families of noblemen and bishops of Strasbourg before being turned...

.

By the time of the outbreak of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, only the outside was completed. When cleric rule was abolished, the building lost both its owner and its function.

The gradual decline of the building was stopped under Napoleon III, who had it renovated and extended in the direction of the city. Already in 1853, the park was irrevocably cut and destroyed by the Marne-Rhine Canal

Marne-Rhine Canal

The Marne-Rhine Canal is a canal in north eastern France. It connects the river Marne in Vitry-le-François with the Rhine in Strasbourg. Combined with the canalised part of the Marne, it allows transport between Paris and eastern France. The original objective of the canal was to connect Paris...

. Since 1858, the castle houses a city museum (history, decorative arts, a large archaeological department), which was joined by the art and ethnographic collection of the politician Louise Weiss

Louise Weiss

Louise Weiss was a French author, journalist, feminist and European politician.- Life :Louise Weiss came from a cosmopolitan family of Alsace. The ancestors of her Jewish mother, Jeanne Javal, originated from the small Alsatian town of Seppois-le-Bas...

 in the 20th century. Previously, the castle had served at times as a home for officers' widows and, after the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

, as a barracks. Today, one of its wings is used as a youth hostel, and another houses the Espace Rohan, Saverne's 500 seat theatre and concert hall.

The castle is listed as a Monument historique

Monument historique

A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...

since 1933 by the French Ministry of Culture.

External links

• History of the castle
• Views on en.structurae.de
• Web site of the museum
• Le musée archéologique de Saverne (7 pages, many illustrations)