U.S. Embassy & Consulates
in France

Milestones

 

1767-1777 – Hôtel de Saint-Florentin

The “hôtel particulier” (meaning “private urban mansion”) known today as Hôtel de Talleyrand was built between 1767 and 1769 for Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Saint-Florentin, Marquis then Duc de La Vrillière (1705-1777). As State Secretary in charge of the King’s House, State Minister, State Secretary in charge of Foreign Affairs, and personal friend of the King, Saint-Florentin was one of the most influential figures of the reign of Louis XV.

The mansion was built in the neo-classical style. The elevations of the residence were designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782), First Architect of the King, the designer of the Place Louis XV (today Place de la Concorde), of the Château de Compiègne, of the Petit Trianon in Versailles and of the Ecole Militaire in Paris. The chief interior designer was architect Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin (1739-1811), who later designed the Eglise Saint-Sulpice, the Eglise Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, the Collège de France and the Arc de Triomphe. Chalgrin selected a team including some of the most skilled artists of the period to work on the building’s design: sculptors Guillaume Coustou the Younger (1716-1777), Étienne-Pierre-Adrien Gois (1731-1823), François-Joseph Duret (1729-1816), and Denis Coulonjon, painters Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1743-1811) and Hubert Robert (1733-1808), and master ironsmith Pierre Deumier (1715-1785).

1777-1812

After the death of Saint-Florentin in 1777, the mansion became the property of the Duc de Fitz-James, and in 1784, of the Princesse de Salm-Salm, Duchesse de l’Infantado. It was the home of the Embassy of the Venetian Republic between 1790 and 1794. In 1794, during the French Revolution, it was requisitioned by the Committee of Public Safety to house the Commission on Commerce, and the stables were used to manufacture saltpeter and as an ammunition storage facility. In 1800, the Duchesse de l’Infantado sold the mansion to the Marquis de Hervas.

1812-1838 – Hôtel de Talleyrand

In 1812, the Marquis de Hervas, who in the meantime had been named Marquis d’Almenara, sold the residence to the person who would become forever associated with it: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. The famous French statesman, who had already bought Château de Valençay in 1803, made the mansion on rue Saint-Florentin his Parisian residence. It became a center of French society and political life.

It is in this residence that Talleyrand hosted the preliminary negotiation talks that would become the basis of the Treaty of Fontainebleau (signed in April of 1814), and the Treaty of Paris (signed in May of 1814), which would pave the way for the Congress of Vienna (September 1814 – June 1815).  Over the course of these meetings to negotiate peace in Europe as well as the restoration of the monarchy in France, Talleyrand received King Frederick William III of Prussia, Emperor Francis I of Austria and the Duke of Wellington, the British Ambassador.

Talleyrand’s most prestigious guest during these negotiations was no doubt Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who sojourned in this building for two weeks (from April 1^st until April 15, 1814).  When the Russian armies entered Paris on March 31, Talleyrand decided to put his mansion at the Tsar’s disposal. Upon welcoming him to his residence, Talleyrand is said to have remarked: “This may be your Majesty’s most brilliant triumph: turning a diplomat’s house into a temple of peace.”

Talleyrand died in this building on May 17, 1838, after King Louis-Philippe had paid him a final visit. After his death, his furniture was transported to Château de Valençay, where it remains today.

In “Choses Vues 1830 – 1848,” Victor Hugo commented: “Into this palace, as a spider into its web, he enticed and captured, one by one, heroes, thinkers, conquerors, princes, emperors, Bonaparte, Sieyès, Mme de Stael, Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant, Alexandre de Russie, Guillaume de Prusse, Francois d’Autriche, Louis XVIII, Louis Philippe, and all the gilded glittering flies which buzz through the history of these past forty years. All this glittering swarm, fascinated by the penetrating eye of this man, passed in turn under this gloomy entrance bearing on it the inscription: Hotel Talleyrand.”

1838-1950 – Hôtel de Rothschild

In 1838, Baron James-Mayer de Rothschild bought the mansion from Talleyrand’s niece, the Duchesse de Dino, who had just inherited it. The prominent Rothschild banking empire furnished credit to royals and governments during times of war and crisis across Europe. As head of the French branch of the firm, James-Mayer and his descendants entertained in the highest fashion in this and other mansions they owned in France. In 1857, James-Mayer gave 2 rue Saint Florentin to his son, Alphonse-James de Rothschild. In 1906, Edouard-Alphonse de Rothschild, Alphonse-James’ son, inherited it and lived here until the German army occupying France forced him to leave Paris. Thus, the Hôtel de Talleyrand remained the property of the Rothschild family for over a hundred years and three generations. During this long period of time, major construction and decoration works were undertaken, particularly with the extension of the central part of the mansion, between 1868 and 1871, under the supervision of architect Léon Ohnet (1813-1874).

During World War II, the mansion was first requisitioned by the Naval Ministry of the Vichy Government. Then, during the Nazi Occupation, it housed the headquarters of the German Naval Forces (“Kriegsmarine”). A footbridge was constructed above Rue Saint-Florentin to facilitate crossings between the mansion and the main building of the Naval Ministry.

During the Battle of Paris, it is here that, on August 25, 1944, the troops of General Leclerc arrested the staff officers of the German Navy. Artillery damage to the rear of the building, on rue de Mondovi, bear witness to the intense fighting which took place in the 1^st arrondissement. After the Liberation, the mansion was briefly used by Maurice Thorez, the Vice-Premier of the Provisional Government.

1950-today – Property of the U.S. Government

After World War II, the U.S. Department of State rented, from 1948 until 1950, then bought, on November 14, 1950, the Hôtel de Talleyrand from the Rothschild family, to serve as the home of the American Administration of the European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan. It was named after U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who, on June 5, 1947, outlined in a speech at Harvard University the United States Government plan to contribute to the economic recovery of Europe after World War II. It is in this mansion that Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, who was appointed by President Truman, headed the American Administration of the Marshall Plan in Europe between 1948 and 1951, and gathered representatives of the 17 participating European countries.

From 1981 until 1984, under the supervision of the Office of Foreign Buildings Operations of the U.S. Department of State and an expert in historic décors, Robert Carlhian, architects Hugh Newell Jacobsen and J. Bruce Smith conducted major renovation works. From 1984 until 2007 the mansion housed several offices of the American Embassy to France, including the Consular Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Information Services.

From 2000 until 2010, the Hôtel de Talleyrand again underwent major restoration work, managed by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund Europe. French experts of 18^th and 19^th century historic décors Robert Carlhian and Fabrice Ouziel undertook extensive historical research. The restoration, accomplished by over 150 French artisans, was financed by private funds from both sides of the Atlantic. In 2010, restoration of the Hôtel de Talleyrand was completed.

Today the diplomatic receiving salons, known as the George C. Marshall Center, have been restored to serve as a venue for official conferences, meetings and receptions. The hôtel particulier is also leased to the Parisian offices of Jones Day, an American law firm.

The Restoration of the State Apartments as an Atelier for Franco-American Artisan Exchange

French Artisans, as well as the two French Artisan Exchange Scholars, and “Marshall Scholars,” representing the continuing academic interest in George Marshall and the Marshall Plan, will be present at the event and can be interviewed about their work.

The U.S. Department of State and the French-American Cultural Foundation prepared to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan in 2006 by creating an artisan scholarship program, recognizing that artisan crafts are an endangered art with few ateliers, few schools, and few students. Under the patronage of Ambassador Jean David Levitte, $80,000 was privately raised at an event at Gold Leaf Studios in Washington, D.C., to support three gilding artisan exchange scholarships between France and America. A French-American Cultural Foundation panel of expert judges selects qualified artisans to receive the Watin Scholarship for three-month international artisan apprenticeships. The scholarship is named in honor of Jean Félix Watin, who was born in 1728 and worked as a master gilder and interior designer in Paris throughout his life. Several French and American artisans selected through this program participated in the work on the Marshall Center Restoration, and they are present this evening.

Of particular note are two unique objects created under the first French/American Artisan Exchange Program: a gilded frame replica of the frame that holds an engraving of Louis XVI that was presented in December 1791 by the French Ambassador to George Washington, and a restored 18th-century-style console on which Elizabeth Holt, the American Artisan Exchange Scholar, worked under the guidance of Atelier Maury in Paris. The frame will be presented by the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD to that organization, which succeeded the European administrative side of the Marshall Plan, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

The framed scarves to be presented this evening to the ambassadors of the seventeen Marshall Plan countries were designed and produced by the French firm, L.R. Paris, incorporating the flags of those countries, architectural details in the Center’s rooms, and salient words from George C. Marshall’s January 1948 Congressional testimony to urge passage of the legislation for the economic recovery of Europe. A close look at the scarves reveals architectural details of the panels and ceilings of the ten rooms of the Marshall Center. These were the rooms at the heart of activity during the Marshall Plan: the offices of Ambassador Averell Harriman, the Special Representative of the Marshall Plan and the liaison to the European nations

Marshall Scholars: Keeping History Alive

Angélique Durand (France): I was riveted by my first screening of “Copper and its Alloys,” a 1954 American technical documentary in “The American Films” collection conserved since 1960 by the French Ministry of Agriculture. Intrigued by the roles that the Marshall Plan and U.S. Information Service films played in the political and cultural French-American relations during the Cold War, I determined to complete my basic research in preparation for a doctorate at the University of Versailles-Saint Quentin. Dissertation topic: Visual Propaganda of the American Administration in France, 1948-1955

Altug Akin (Turkey): My Ph.D. dissertation at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, is tentatively titled Communicating Trans-nationally: The case of Turkey. The Marshall Plan films played an important role in post-World War II communications for development, especially in Turkey. I will soon present the initial results of a project on Marshall Plan films at a conference in Hamburg, Germany, and plan to publish a book on the subject after graduation and post-doctoral research in Turkey.

Jeanpaul Goergen (Germany): As a film historian, I have specialized in German documentaries. I have studied and written on the re-education films distributed by the Americans in Germany after World War II, and co-curated a retrospective of Marshall Plan and other postwar films at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival. I am currently involved at the University of Hamburg in a research project of the DFG (German Research Foundation) on 1950s informational films, including Marshall Plan films, that promoted the concept of the unification of Europe.

Regina M. Longo (Italy): PhD Candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara: My father’s close attachment to his family in Italy has strongly influenced me, and my personal and intellectual lives straddle Italy and the United States. My research focuses on Marshall Plan films shown in Italy. They bring to light the continuities and cooperation between Italian and U.S. film industries throughout most of the 20th century. Dissertation Title: Giuseppe in the Factory, Giovanni on the Farm, and a ‘Gun for Gaetano,’ Marshall Plan Films in Italy, 1948-1955: A Project of Postwar Consensus Building

Wesley O’Dell (The U.S.): While studying at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, I became involved with the George C. Marshall Foundation, first as a Marshall Undergraduate Scholar studying George Kennan, and later as a researcher and annotator studying Marshall in the late 1940s. Currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy degree in history at the University of Cambridge, England, I study Marshall’s administration of the State Department. Marshall’s statesmanship is a major inspiration for me as I begin a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University studying International Relations in the fall.

Dr. Maria Fritsche (Austria): I became particularly interested in the Marshall Plan when my research focus shifted from World War II to the reconstruction of post-World War II Europe. I am currently analyzing visual representations of Europe in Marshall Plan films to discern how the medium of film helped promote the idea of a united Europe long before its political realization. The tentative title of the result of my post-doctoral research is The Making of Europe. Visions of Europe in American Marshall Plan Film Productions (1948-1954).

Anne-Lieke Struijk (The Netherlands): During research for my Master’s degree in American Studies at Utrecht University, I became interested in Dutch-produced Marshall Plan films, never before researched. They illustrate transatlantic cooperation and present questions concerning postwar American imperialism. Today, when public diplomacy seems increasingly relevant, the stories behind these films offer an example of the challenges and successes that came along with the economic rebuilding of a nation at that time. Thesis title: Marshall Plan on Screen: Joint Venture or American Imperialism?