Quartier Neustadt & Place de la République
Most visitors never cross the moat to the Neustadt — the German imperial new town built between 1871 and 1918 after Bismarck annexed Alsace. This Wilhelmine quarter of grand boulevards, domed palaces and art nouveau apartment blocks is now a UNESCO World Heritage extension of the Grande Île and one of the most architecturally coherent 19th-century urban districts in Europe.
Place de la République: the imperial centrepiece
The vast Place de la République is ringed by three monumental German state buildings: the Palais du Rhin (former imperial palace, now used for exhibitions), the National and University Library, and the National Theatre — all built in a deliberate Romanesque-Renaissance hybrid style meant to project German cultural authority over the newly acquired territory.
At the centre stands a war memorial unique in Europe: a mother holds the bodies of two sons, one in a French uniform, one in a German uniform — a literal monument to the tragedy of Alsatians forced to fight on both sides of the same war. It was controversial when unveiled in 1936 and remains quietly devastating.
Avenue de la Paix and the art nouveau details
Walk north from Place de la République along Avenue de la Paix to spot the Neustadt's residential face: six-storey sandstone apartment buildings with carved keystones, wrought-iron balconies and ceramic tile entrance halls. Many are still private residences, but the street-level detail is all visible from the pavement.
The Palais de l'Université at the south end of the avenue is worth entering (it's a working university building, open to visitors during term time) to see the neo-Renaissance Great Hall and the stained-glass windows commemorating Alsatian scientists. Admission is free and the building is almost always uncrowded.
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