Rohan Castle

The Rohan Castle (French: Château des Rohan ), also known as Château Neuf ( New Castle ), is a monumental classicist in the city of Saverne (German Zabern ) in Alsace. The 140 meter wide park facade of red Vosges sandstone is regarded as one of the most impressive examples of its kind

The building was from 1780 to 1790 by Nicolas Salins de Montfort architect built on the site of the previous building burnt down in 1779 from 1670, which in turn which is still preserved small Château Vieux (Old Palace ) of 1417 superseded. Commissioned the architect was the Strasbourg Louis René Édouard de Prince-Bishop Rohan Guéméné, who resided at the same time also in the magnificent Palais Rohan his tenure in the city as well as more modest Rohan Castle in Mutzig. At the outbreak of the French Revolution the castle was completed but only externally. With the dissolution of clerical rule lost the building owner and function.

The gradual decline of the building was only under Napoléon III. Halted, the left renovate and expand it to the city. However, already the park was cut in 1853 and destroyed irrevocably by the Marne- Rhine Canal. Since 1858, the castle houses a city museum (history, arts and crafts, rich archaeological department ) to which in the 20th century joined the art and ethnographic collection of the politician Louise Weiss.

Previously, the castle had temporarily served as a home for army widows and, after the Franco-German War, when German barracks. In the basement dungeon of the castle, the so-called Pandur cellar, known by there had taken place pseudoalchemistischen prospectors experiments Cagliostro, the end of November 1913 in the course of Saverne unrest unlawfully arrested by the military authorities of Alsace protesters were held in custody overnight.

Today, one of the wings of the building is used as a youth hostel. In another wing is the event hall Espace Rohan with five hundred seats.