Hôtel Beauharnais

The Hôtel Beauharnais (French: [otɛl boaʁnɛ]) is a historic hôtel particulier, a type of large French townhouse, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed by architect Germain Boffrand.^[1] Its construction was completed in 1714.^[1] By 1803, the structure was purchased by Eugène de Beauharnais,^[1] who had it rebuilt in an Empire style. It has been listed as an official historical monument since July 25, 1951.^[1] Today it serves as the official residence of the German Ambassador to France.^[1]

Location

The premises are situated on the left bank of the

cour d'honneur is located on rue de Lille in the south, to the north, an English garden offers scenic views to the Seine and beyond up to the Tuileries Garden

. The vast property is not accessible to the public.

History

The building was erected at the behest of Foreign Minister

Colbert de Torcy (1665–1746),^[1] shortly before his dismissal by Regent Philippe of Orléans

. Then named Hôtel de Torcy, it served as Colbert's retirement home where he kept his extensive art collection and completed his memoirs.

After several changes of ownership and being plundered during the

Egyptomanian style which was popular in the wake of the French campaign in Egypt. Opulently furnished with large-scale paintings by Hubert Robert, the spacious rooms fitted with Beauharnais' great demands. However, the Viceroy had little opportunity to reside at his Paris home. When Napoleon married the Habsburg archduchess Marie Louise in 1810, he used the Hôtel as a guest house for Beauharnais' father-in-law, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria

.

After the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the premises were first rented and finally purchased by Prussia under King Frederick William III in 1818 and became the seat of the Prussian legation. In 1862 Otto von Bismarck resided here, before his appointment as Minister president by King William I in September.

Following the

Max von Schwartzkoppen at the embassy triggered the Dreyfus affair. The shooting of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan in 1938 provided the Nazi authorities with the pretext for the antisemitic Kristallnacht

pogrom.

During

German Forum for Art History Paris

.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Base Mérimée: Hôtel de Beauharnais, actuellement résidence de l'ambassadeur d'Allemagne, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

External links

L'Hôtel de Beauharnais (in French)

48°51′39″N 2°19′20″E / 48.8607°N 2.3223°E / 48.8607; 2.3223

[frenchministry-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Base Mérimée: Hôtel de Beauharnais, actuellement résidence de l'ambassadeur d'Allemagne, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

[1]

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany United States
Geographic	Mérimée Structurae