Squares

Place Gutenberg

Strasbourg

Place Gutenberg is a square located on the Grande Île of Strasbourg and developed around the year 1100. At its center stands a statue of the printer Johannes Gutenberg, shown holding a parchment inscribed “Et la lumière fut.” The statue reflects Gutenberg’s connection with Strasbourg, where he performed his earliest printing work and printed the Bible. Born in Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire, he is the square’s principal commemorated figure. The main building bordering the square is the Neue Bau, formerly the town hall of Strasbourg and now the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alsace Eurométropole. The square also contains a carousel-type merry-go-round and a public parking lot underground. In December, it hosts a Christmas market featuring the guest country of Strasbourg, capital of Christmas. Before 1863, the square was named Place du Marché aux Herbes.

Map showing the location of Place Gutenberg in Strasbourg
Location of Place Gutenberg in Strasbourg

Nearby Objects

Location and Early Development

Place Gutenberg is located in the Grande Ile of Strasbourg. The site was developed around the year 1100, placing its early history in the medieval period. These facts situate the place within one of the historic areas of the city and indicate that its origins go back many centuries.

Statue and Surrounding Features

At the center of Place Gutenberg stands a statue of printer Johannes Gutenberg. The figure holds a parchment inscribed with the words Et la lumiere fut. The square also reflects Gutenberg's historical connection to Strasbourg: he was born in Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire, carried out his earliest printing work in Strasbourg, and printed the Bible there. One of the principal bordering buildings is the Neue Bau, formerly the town hall of Strasbourg and now the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alsace Eurometropole. The square contains a carousel-type merry-go-round and a public parking lot underground beneath it. In December, Place Gutenberg hosts a Christmas market, which features the guest country of Strasbourg, capital of Christmas.

Place Gutenberg and the Schwowelade Hardware Store

Before 1863, Place Gutenberg was known as Place du Marche aux Herbes. The place was home to a hardware store tradition that began in 1779 at numbers 1 and 2, where an ancestor of the later Schwowelade business was established. The name Schwowelade was an Alsatian translation of magazin souabe, and the store was named for its owner, Paul Siebler-Ferry, who was born in 1867 in Lenzkirch in the Black Forest.

After Alsace returned to France in 1919, the business was bought by Salomon Lehmann and his son-in-law Paul Rueff. From the 1930s, it was directed by Camille Pfrunner, and it was expanded and renamed Quincaillerie Centrale de Strasbourg. The store returned to Arno Siebler-Ferry in 1940, but the building was destroyed that same year during bombing and fire. Arno Siebler-Ferry was killed in the destruction.

After World War II, the hardware store operated in a provisional building. Reconstruction of the building was completed in 1957, and the Quincaillerie Centrale closed permanently that same year.