Ancienne Douane

Situated at the crossroads of several communications routes, in particular several river routes with the Rhine, the Ill and the Bruche, in the 12th century Strasbourg became an important European transit and trading centre which required port installations.

In 1358, it was decided to construct a huge warehouse with a trading counter for the products that were to be taxed.

The customs warehouse was enlarged and completed several times until the end of the 18th century.

To the west of the building, near the Saint-Nicolas bridge, an enormous landing stage was installed in 1393, including two monumental cranes, which were removed in 1865.

Devastated by the bombing of 1944, the Ancienne Douane building was rebuilt at the beginning of the 1960s.

The reconstruction, which eliminates all the parts added over the later centuries, has given the building its medieval appearance back.