> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://roadme.io/blog/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Strasbourg’s Old Town Squares: Gutenberg, Kléber and Broglie - URL: https://roadme.io/blog/strasbourg-old-town-squares-walk/ - Published: 2026-10-21T22:45:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-21T22:45:46.000Z - Author: RoadMe - Tags: Itineraries, #strasbourg Place Gutenberg, Place Kléber and Place Broglie make a connected walk through old Strasbourg. The first introduces printing and civic government, the second public memory and unexpected avant-garde art, and the third a promenade and opera house. Between them, the scale of space, the buildings and the way the city presents its past all change. Begin at Place Gutenberg, continue to Place Kléber and finish on Place Broglie near the opera. Allow roughly an hour to ninety minutes for exteriors and short stops. This is an unmeasured planning estimate; travel to the start, the return journey, a long café stop and interior visits are additional. ## Three squares, three ways of seeing the city At each square, look first at the shape of the space, then at its monument and surrounding fronts. That order connects an individual object with Strasbourg. Sculpture may be the clearest landmark, while buildings, passages and open ground explain how the place works. Choose one interest for the walk: monument stories, changing architectural periods, or where people pause and cross a square. Asking the same questions at three stops creates a useful comparison without needing to memorise every date. > It is easier to work out a personal route in [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io), based on your interests, dates, pace and budget. The app creates a connected walk or trip plan in which squares, important visits and rest fit together. Reverse the order if you arrive from Broglie. You will finish nearer the cathedral quarter, where another part of the day can begin. This is a linear route between squares; plan a return to your starting point separately if you need one. With family, try naming the strongest image after each stop. One person may choose a book, another a long façade or theatre columns. Different answers provide a way to discuss the walk without a lengthy explanation at every square. ## Place Gutenberg: begin with the printer's monument At Place Gutenberg, find the bronze figure holding a sheet. David d'Angers's monument was installed in 1840, when the square also received the inventor's name. It commemorates Gutenberg's Strasbourg period and the public value of the printed word. Notice how the figure's gesture and attention lead towards the sheet. That is enough for a first observation: the monument concentrates on a text becoming available to other people. You can understand why a printer holds a prominent city position without reading every relief. The monument was made centuries after Gutenberg's lifetime. Treat it as nineteenth-century historical memory rather than a marker for the exact site of every discovery. This distinction helps you read civic monuments attentively instead of turning every story into a literal event map. Reliefs around the base expand the subject of knowledge spreading. If they interest you, select one fragment rather than trying to interpret the whole ensemble immediately. Find a general scene, then a gesture or object. A short stop can remain meaningful while keeping its pace. For a photograph, include the figure and some surrounding space. Then focus on the sheet or lower monument. The pictures will serve different purposes: one places it in Strasbourg, the other records the sculpture's main idea. ## Neubau: an earlier civic story beside the statue Look at the nearby Neubau, built in 1583–1585\. Its name means new building and relates to enlarged municipal premises. The ordered Renaissance stone front introduces government, commerce and the role of craft corporations in urban life. First take in the overall rhythm of windows, columns and pilasters, then choose a detail. A small element can connect the representative front with an actual community in which professional associations played a part in public organisation. The square was a centre of government before the Gutenberg monument. Other important buildings once stood here, including the lost Pfalz town hall. The surviving Neubau belongs to that broader history, while the square's present name adds another layer of time. The first stop therefore contains two subjects: the organisation of civic power and memory of printing. They can be understood together. Their proximity makes the place more interesting than an introduction to one famous figure alone. An exterior look is enough for this walk. An active institutional building does not imply tourist access to every room. If an interior or event appeals, check arrangements and give it a separate place in the day. ![RoadMe traveller with a book beside an illustrative bronze printer figure holding a sheet](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-4324.webp) ## Towards Place Kléber: a change of scale From Gutenberg, follow central streets and Rue des Grandes-Arcades towards Place Kléber. Notice the change in urban density: a street directs the eye along its fronts, while the square opens the view sideways. On Kléber, begin near an edge and take in the whole space before moving towards the monument. The large open area then feels organised rather than simply becoming a distance to cross on the way to another object. The square's history connects a monastery, military functions and civic memory. Changing names reflected changing public roles. For a short walk, keep that sequence in mind and notice everyday routes passing among older symbols. If an event or temporary structures occupy the square, compare accessible sides and overall scale. Markets and gatherings can change the usual visibility of fronts. Meeting the place does not require waiting for completely empty ground. ## Kléber's memorial and the long Aubette front The monument to General Jean-Baptiste Kléber commemorates a Strasbourg-born figure. Philippe Grass's bronze statue was installed in 1840 and also serves a funerary role. Treat it as a memorial as well as a convenient meeting landmark. From a distance, the general silhouette is clear; nearby, the figure and base details become visible. A complete military biography is unnecessary to understand its place in public space. Notice how Strasbourg selects a prominent native for its civic memory. Now turn towards the long Aubette building. Its eighteenth-century front works through length, repeated windows and a broad horizontal line. Compare it with the more compact Neubau at the first stop. Change distance as part of the comparison. Take in the full length, then one smaller section. A façade can organise the background of a square and also become architecture worth considering in its own right. ## Aubette 1928: an optional art visit Behind the historic exterior lies another artistic story. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Jean Arp and Theo van Doesburg created the Aubette 1928 interiors for a leisure complex. Geometry and colour spread across walls and ceilings to form a complete spatial composition. The idea is straightforward: visitors enter an artistic arrangement instead of simply standing before a picture. It particularly suits an interest in the relationship between art and architecture. A classical exterior acquires an unexpected twentieth-century chapter. Plan the interior separately against its current calendar. An outdoor square itinerary does not guarantee entry. If you choose Aubette, shorten another part or increase the time so that the encounter with art does not become a quick dash between doors. Even when staying outside, retain the distinction between an eighteenth-century building and a 1928 artistic programme. That fact changes the reading of a calm stone front behind which a bold experiment with space could take place. ![RoadMe traveller observing an interpretive geometric interior with coloured walls and ceiling](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-4325.webp) ## Place Broglie: a promenade before the opera Continue through central streets towards Rue de la Mésange and Place Broglie, checking available connections on the current map. The elongated square gives another character to the walk, directing attention towards the opera and representative buildings along the sides. Its earlier life involved fairs, markets and tournaments. An eighteenth-century promenade added another use: people could stroll as well as conduct business. The later theatre provided a distinctive conclusion to the open space. Compare Broglie with the previous two squares. Where does the eye find an end point, where would you pause in the middle, and where do surrounding fronts matter most? These questions reveal urban form without specialised terminology. At the opera, look at the neoclassical portico and muse figures. The building took shape in the early nineteenth century and passed through destruction in 1870 followed by restoration. As at the other stops, present architecture contains an original design and later preservation history. An exterior introduction is enough here. A theatre tour or performance requires a separate check of the programme and conditions. If works cover part of the view, look at the accessible square ensemble; a fine entrance alone does not establish interior access. ![RoadMe traveller making a small bow beside a stylised opera portico with muse figures](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-4326.webp) The first two squares share a small detail: both the Gutenberg and Kléber monuments were installed in 1840\. They commemorate different people and different subjects. Seen together, they suggest several ways a nineteenth-century city could choose to represent its past in public space. Think back to the figures’ gestures and the surrounding fronts. A printed sheet, a memorial, Renaissance order, the long Aubette and theatre columns each organise attention differently. One personal sentence about each square can preserve those differences better than a complete list of names without an observation of your own. ## The Strasbourg you see through three squares Connect three brief impressions: the sheet in the printer's hands, the long Aubette front and the theatre portico. Together they suggest knowledge, public memory and cultural life. You do not need to inventory every building or explain every monument completely. To continue near the cathedral, use the [cathedral-quarter walk](https://roadme.io/blog/strasbourg-cathedral-surroundings-walk/). For a looser full day, the [historic-centre plan](https://roadme.io/blog/strasbourg-one-day-itinerary/) offers more room. Broglie is also a reasonable finish in its own right, leaving time to rest. > [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io) works out a personal trip plan around your interests and available time. In the app, it is easier to choose a museum, another neighbourhood or a quiet walk as the continuation and connect the day into one programme. The squares are rewarding because they differ. Gutenberg introduces printing and government, Kléber a major civic centre, and Broglie the promenade and theatre. Together they offer another view of old Strasbourg alongside the familiar cathedral and waterways.