Time for a little astronomy

Turning the clock back to explore a Strasbourg work of mechanical and mathematical genius. Plus, a tale of two palaces and three museums!

In my last dispatch, I mentioned that I had not yet explored the Astronomical Clock portion of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg experience. Past tense, today (Oct. 28, 2023), I was present for the daily event where the clock’s “automatons,” representing the four stages of life and the 12 apostles, parade across the top of the clock structure.

The entire spectacle costs €4 and includes a really cool 27-minute documentary on the clock’s history and the complex machinations that went into creating its modern version. If you can accept 1843 as modern. That’s when the current version, the genius creation of Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué, went into operation.

Too bad I can’t show you the film, it’s copyright and costs €22 to obtain on a USB key, but here’s a promo for it made by the company that made it.

I can, however, show you the automaton parade that takes place at 12:30 every day and generates so much excitement, to the tune of 4 million visitors a year. It’s right below and is just over 4 minutes long.

The current clock replaced a version that operated for two centuries before rust and wear became too much and it became unrepairable. The workings of that clock were preserved and can be viewed at the Palais Rohan, just across from the Cathedral.

The Rohan Palace, which houses three museums, hosted numerous bigwigs over the years, including Louis XV, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and Joséphine, and Charles X. This imposing example of 18th-century French Baroque architecture has recreated the parts of the palace where kings and emperors slept and plotted, with the addition of some tongue-in-cheek commentary by contemporary Decorative Arts students.

Napolean’s desk, with a few anachronistic embellishments by decorative arts students.

If you’re wondering where the Germans slept when they were running the place after they annexed Alsace following the Franco-Prussian War, they built their own palace, the Palais du Rhin or Kaiserpalast, an excellent example of 19th-century Prussian architecture.

The Kaiserpalast, today known as the Palais du Rhin.

Anyway, it’s Saturday afternoon here and I’m afraid I have to leave you if I’m to squeeze in another museum today. I may have some other interesting tidbits to share in a final Strasbourg instalment before I pack up and head to Paris on Monday.

Thanks for taking this trip with me! À bientôt.