Anciennes glacières, Ice manufacturing plant in Petite France district, Strasbourg, France.
Anciennes Glacières occupies 18th-century buildings on the Ill canals in Petite France, at 5 rue des Moulins. The facade mixes pale yellow render with stone, and a lower grey-roofed wing with two dormer windows joins a taller tower block with a steep dark tiled roof, marked "HOTEL" and a red-and-white life ring. The stone base stands against the water beside a wooden sluice gate with metal railings.
The factory opened in 1897 and employed gas expansion and hydraulic turbines for artificial ice production through advanced freezing methods. After running for nearly a century, the facility closed in 1990 and was later converted into a hotel while keeping the original machinery intact.
The factory was known as "Klareiswerke zur Dünzenmühle", and its ice went to merchants, brewers and private households. The hotel keeps the name Régent Petite France; among its guests were Mary Higgins Clark, Jean Reno, Catherine Deneuve and Jacques Chirac. The 400 m² of the former ice works are open to the public.
The site sits in the Petite France neighborhood along the Ill River canals and is easily accessible on foot. Since the buildings now house a hotel, visitors can see the exterior and some interior spaces where the preserved machinery remains on display.
The hotel's bar occupies the former machine hall, where the preserved compressors, flywheels and a turbine from 1897 stand beside the seating. The complex is listed as "Klareiswerke zur Dünzenmühle", the name under which its ice was sold to brewers, merchants and private customers. Guests have included Jacques Chirac, Catherine Deneuve and Jean Reno.
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