Old Island Media Library

The building was built in 1783 at the expense of the city, at the request of the Intendant of Alsace. This building is in Louis 16 style, characterized by straight, fine and well-crafted lines giving a nice impression of lightness and elegance. It was to be a large hospital for both civilians and soldiers.
However, while the building was not yet complete, a royal ordinance abolished the regional military hospitals. Despite everything, it served as a military hospital during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It then acted as a begging repository (the equivalent of our current social SAMU) for the Bas-Rhin department. In 1822 the building was ceded to the Ministry of Justice which first installed a central house for women and then a penitentiary center for men until its closure in 1987. The city bought the buildings. In 1996, a University Institute of Technology (an IUT) was set up in the right part / while an important media library was opened in the left part, in 2001. Finally, know for the anecdote that before its transformation, this building served as the backdrop for the filming of the helicopter escape scene from the film “La fille de l'air” with Béatrice Dalle.