Haussmannian Paris
Opera Garnier, church Saint-Augustin, fountain Saint –Michel, remarkable boulevards, streets, and parks, big markets (Les Hales) all this is a result of the great renovations and transformations of Paris in the 19th century.
Have you ever wondered admiring the city that was on duty at that time to give Paris its homogeneous, classic, symmetric, and so elegant look? Let’s discover!
The city of Paris had changed considerably throughout history. The classic “look” that Paris has today owes among others to Prefect of Paris in the 19th century - Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann.
The times of metamorphoses
In the middle of the 19th century, the center of Paris was overcrowded, dangerous, and unhealthy. Actually it had changed little since the Middle Ages. With the population high density, disease spread very quickly: cholera epidemics ravaged the city in 1832 and 1848. The center of the city was also the cradle of discontent and revolution.
Haussmann and Napoleon III
The Prefect of Paris, Georges-Eugène Haussmann was ordered in 1853 by Emperor Napoleon III to completely rethink and reshape the city: the idea was to help the circulation of people by getting rid of all narrow streets, but also to improve the quality of life and hygiene conditions of Parisians.
Baron Haussmann had one main line to follow: ”aérer, unifier et embellir la Ville” (lighten, unify and embellish the city). That meant coming up with new architecture plans, but also clever systems of water, gas, and sewers. The Haussmannian renovation of Paris included the construction of 20 to 30 meters avenues and boulevards (120m for Foch Avenue!), but also the creation of train stations: Gare de Lion in 1855, Gare du Nord in 1865 and monuments like the Garnier Opera House or St Augustin Church.
Napoleon III also insisted that Paris became greener, as he was inspired by short exile in London in 1831, and the city got furnished with forests on each side (Bois de Boulogne, de Vincennes) but also parks (Buttes-Chaumont, Montsouris, Monceau), large gardens (Luxembourg, Champs-Élysées) and about 80 little public gardens called “squares” In total, about 80,000 trees were planted to embellish the streets.
Controversies
Some critics argued that the real purpose of Haussmann’s boulevards was to make it easier for the army to crush popular uprisings: the wide boulevards gave the army greater mobility, a wider range of fire, and made it harder to block the streets with barricades. While Haussmann mentioned it was never the main purpose. It should be mentioned that Haussmann had always a very strong support and protection of the emperor Napoleon III. Thankfully that most of his projects were realized.
How to recognize Haussmannian buildings
The Haussmannian house has the following structure: the ground floor, with ashlar facades, 2nd floor ”noble” with 1 or 2 balconies, 3rd/4th floor same style, fewer decorations around the windows, 5th floor – long-running balcony, no decorations, and attic – maid rooms, with 45-degree inclination roof mandatory. The houses are also called the” little islands” because the building has inside courtyards to favor the circulation.
Before Haussmann, all social classes were living under the same roof: bourgeois on the 2nd floor, workers from the 3rd to the 5th floor, students and home employees just below the roof. But after the renovation, rent increased and forced the less wealthy to move further away from the center of Paris or in areas that were not too hit by renovation, like the west of the city.
But that would be another story…
