Hôtel des Deux-Ponts

Hôtel des Deux-Ponts
Hôtel des Deux-Ponts
	Façade and garden on Place Broglie
	Hôtel des Deux-Ponts in relation to the city of Strasbourg
Former names	Hôtel de Gayot
Alternative names	Hôtel du gouverneur militaire
General information
Type	Civic
Architectural style	Baroque
Location	Strasbourg, France
Coordinates	48°35′06″N 7°45′06″E / 48.58500°N 7.75167°E
Current tenants	French Armed Forces
Construction started	1754
Completed	1755
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Joseph Massol, Georges Michel Muller

The Hôtel des Deux-Ponts, formerly known as the Hôtel Gayot and currently as the Hôtel du gouverneur militaire, is a historic building located on Place Broglie on the Grande Île in the city center of Strasbourg, in the French department of the Bas-Rhin. It has been classified as a Monument historique since 1921.^[1]

The Hôtel des Deux-Ponts is currently used as the official residence of the military governor of Strasbourg.

History[edit]

The Hôtel was designed as a hôtel particulier for the brothers, royal moneylenders François-Marie Gayot and Félix-Anne Gayot and built in 1754-55 featuring a courtyard, two ornate façades, a grand portal and a French garden. In 1770, it was sold by François-Marie Gayot to count palatine Christian IV of Zweibrücken (German: zwei Brücken = English: two bridges = French: deux ponts). Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, the future King Maximilian I of Bavaria lived there from 1770 until 1790. His son and successor on the Bavarian throne, Ludwig I of Bavaria, was born in this palace on 25 August 1786.

The hôtel became state-owned (bien public) in the wake of the French Revolution in 1791 and has served as the official residence for military governors and chiefs of staff since, including during the periods when Strasbourg was a German town again (1871–1918 and 1940–1944). It is not open for tourists apart on special days such as European Heritage Days.