This quadrilateral hotel with a main building between the courtyard and the garden was built around 1770 in the Louis XV style. Two balconies and a balconnet decorate the street façade. 6 frame variants are represented throughout the building. The keys above the windows are carved with a bust in high relief, very varied rockeries and flowers. However, those on the left have not been carved, as the bankruptcy of the Hoffmann family prevented the completion of the decoration. It was François Joseph Ignace Hoffmann who had the hotel built before going bankrupt in 1781.
The Hoffmann family played a very important role in the Alsatian economy of the 18th century. True captains of industry, they became rich thanks to the madder grown in the surrounding area. The root of this plant gives a bright red dye to fabrics. This colour was already known in Haguenau in the Middle Ages under the name "Hagenauer Röth". In the 18th century, thanks to the Hoffmann family, Haguenau became the largest European centre for this production. From the dried and crushed root, a red powder was extracted which was sold all over Europe. It was used in particular to dye the trousers of French soldiers until 1915, making them all the more visible at the beginning of the Great War. Note that Saint Cyrians in ceremonial uniform still wear "madder red" trousers today.
Hagenau-260-Hotel du bailli Hoffmann-2019-gje
Gerd Eichmann (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gerd_Eichmann)
CC BY-SA 4.0
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Hagenau-260-Hotel du bailli Hoffmann-2019-gje
Gerd Eichmann (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gerd_Eichmann)
CC BY-SA 4.0
