German Historical Institute Paris

The German Historical Institute Paris occupies the Hotel Duret de Chevry, a stately building constructed between 1618 and 1620. Its architect, Jean Thiriot, was a prominent figure of the era who earned fame for his engineering work on the massive dike used during the siege of La Rochelle. While the exterior appears to be a classic example of seventeenth-century brick and stone architecture, its current facade is actually a nineteenth-century reconstruction. During major renovations, the original brick walls were replaced with stone that was merely painted to mimic the original brickwork.