Strasbourg - Place Broglie

To the east of Place Kléber in Strasbourg is the elongated rectangle of Place Broglie, laid out in 1742 on the site of the old horse market. Along the south side of this square are a number of imposing 18th C. buildings, with their main fronts on Rue BruPlée. The Old Town Hall, built in 1730-1736 as the residence of the Landgrave of Hesse, was the seat of municipal administration from 1805 to 1976. To the east, set in gardens, is the Hôtel du Gouvernement Militaire (c. 1760). At the east end of the square is the Opéra du Rhin, the Municipal Theater (1804-1822), and on the north side (No. 5) is the Banque de France, on the spot where Rouget de Lisle sang the "Marseillaise" for the first time on April 26, 1792. Beyond the theater, on the far side of the old town moat, is the Place de la République, surrounded by public buildings, with a monument commemorating the dead of World War I. On the northwest side of the square is the Palais du Rhin (1883-1889), formerly a German imperial palace. On the southeast side is the National and University Library (1889-1894; ca. three million volumes), with the Conservatoire de Musique (1889-1894) to the right. A little way northwest is the Roman Catholic church of St-Pierre-le-Jeune (1889-1893), with an imposing dome.