Château de Pourtalès, Château in the Robertsau district, Strasbourg, France
Château de Pourtalès is a three-story château in the Robertsau district of Strasbourg, with a pinkish-beige facade, grey slate roofs and a tall tower with a pyramidal roof on its right side. The central block has a steep hipped roof with round dormer windows and two chimneys, flanked by lower wings. The ground floor has an open arcade and a central entrance with steps, and white-framed rectangular windows run across both upper floors.
Joseph Guérault, royal fortification builder, erected the estate in 1750. In 1802 the banker Athanase Paul Renouard de Bussière bought it; his son Alfred rebuilt it in 1844 and laid out the English park around 1840. Mélanie de Pourtalès had architect Charles-Jules Breffendille remodel it from 1887, adding a Louis XV wing and outbuildings; in 1907 Berninger and Krafft built the turret housing a wood-panelled library. After 1939 it stood empty, then served as a military hospital, soldiers' quarters and refugee shelter during the war.
The château takes its name from Count Edmond de Pourtalès, who married Mélanie Renouard de Bussière in 1857; together they gave the house its current name. From 1887 Mélanie held regular salons there, receiving guests such as Franz Liszt, Albert Schweitzer and Léon Bakst. After her death in 1914 her daughter Agnès continued these gatherings.
The castle now functions as a hotel offering modern facilities including a wellness center and dining options. Access to gardens and certain areas may vary depending on events or group bookings on any given day.
In July 2001, during an open-air performance in the park, a plane tree fell and killed 13 spectators. The château's former stables now house a hotel, and the 24-hectare park, bought by the City of Strasbourg, has been open to the public since then.
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