Prefecture

The prefecture of Haut-Rhin began the construction of its new building in 1862. Their former building, in the hotel of the Pairis Abbey (now City Hall), where it was installed since its inception in 1800, was too cramped. The new building, built on the same model as the prefecture of Haute-Marne, was inaugurated in 1866. Designed in a Louis XIII style, there is a central building flanked by two side wings.

The building was used by the German administration during the annexation of the region by Germany and then it was used again by the prefecture of Haut-Rhin in 1918. Destroyed by fire in 1938, the hotel of the prefecture was bombed in 1940 and was again damaged during fights for the liberation of Colmar. The prefecture faces the park of the Champ de Mars, whose arrangement recalls the cross of the Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honor).