Hôpital civil of Haguenau, Historical hospital and monument in Haguenau, France

The Hôpital civil of Haguenau is an L-shaped building at 5 Place d'Armes, with a red tiled roof and a green-roofed cupola at the junction of its wings. The left wing has a brown stone ground floor with arched openings and a white upper section with shuttered windows; the central and right wings have pinkish facades with white stone trim and a central entrance under a rounded stone pediment. The plan combines horseshoe-shaped wings around an open courtyard facing the square with quadrilateral wings around an inner courtyard.

Haguenau's first hospital, St. Nicolas, was founded outside the walls by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1189 for pilgrims. After the city gained independence, Imperial Provost Ottelin Truttmann donated a house on Place d'Armes in 1328 for the care of the sick. After misfortunes from 1570 to 1677, the current building was designed by city under-clerk Georges-Joseph Barth and built from 1757. It was listed as a monument historique in 1930, damaged in 1944 and rebuilt, then expanded in the 1950s and 1960s.

The chapel at the heart of the old bourgeois hospital has an altar covered by a dome. Windows on the two upper levels open onto the hospital wards and corridors, so patients could follow services from their beds. The name Haguenau comes from the German Hagenau, referring to a clearing in the forest.

The building sits at the central Place d'Armes in Haguenau and is easily accessible on foot. Since it is a protected historical monument, visitors should be aware that interior access may be limited and advance inquiries are recommended.

The complex houses a sanctuary with an unusual design where a circular choir beneath a dome with window openings connects directly to the adjacent hospital wards. This creative arrangement allowed patients lying in their beds to participate in religious services.