Le Palais du Peyrou
Encyclopedia
Le Palais du Peyrou is a mansion in the city of Neuchâtel.
The relatively large Swiss mansion was built between 1765 and 1771 for Pierre-Alexandre Du Peyrou (1729 – 1794) by the Bernese architect Erasme Ritter (1726 – 1805). The still mainly original interior of the mansion was executed by highly skilled craftsmen. The faience stoves
were delivered by the Frisching Faience Manufactory
from Bern.
Du Peyrou was immensely rich. His fortune derived from his two plantations in Suriname
where he was born and where his father was in a high position within the Court of Justice. Du Peyrou was a close friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
. It was Du Peyrou who paid the costs for the first publishing of the complete works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1788 in Geneva
.
Du Peyrou and his wife, Henriette Dorothée de Pury (1750-1818), had no childern. In 1799 the mansion was sold to Frédéric de Pourtalès. Afterwards the mansion changed hands several times. In 1858 the city of Neuchâtel bought the mansion and restored it to its former glory. Today Le Palais du Peyrou contains a restaurant and it is also used for ceremonial events by the city.
The relatively large Swiss mansion was built between 1765 and 1771 for Pierre-Alexandre Du Peyrou (1729 – 1794) by the Bernese architect Erasme Ritter (1726 – 1805). The still mainly original interior of the mansion was executed by highly skilled craftsmen. The faience stoves
Masonry heater
A masonry heater is a device for warming a home that captures the heat from periodic burning of fuels , and then radiates that heat over a long period at a fairly constant temperature. The technology exists in many forms from the Roman hypocaust to the Austrian/German kachelofen...
were delivered by the Frisching Faience Manufactory
Frisching Faience Manufactory
.The Frisching Faience Manufactory was a manufactory that produced high class faience manufactures between 1760 and 1776 in Bern.The manufactory was founded by Franz Rudolf Frisching and his brothers Gabriel Friedrich and Karl Albrecht on the grounds of Franz Rudolf Frisching’s country estate,...
from Bern.
Du Peyrou was immensely rich. His fortune derived from his two plantations in Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
where he was born and where his father was in a high position within the Court of Justice. Du Peyrou was a close friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
. It was Du Peyrou who paid the costs for the first publishing of the complete works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1788 in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Du Peyrou and his wife, Henriette Dorothée de Pury (1750-1818), had no childern. In 1799 the mansion was sold to Frédéric de Pourtalès. Afterwards the mansion changed hands several times. In 1858 the city of Neuchâtel bought the mansion and restored it to its former glory. Today Le Palais du Peyrou contains a restaurant and it is also used for ceremonial events by the city.
Literature and external links
- Charly Guyot, Un ami et défenseur de Rousseau: Pierre-Alexandre Du Peyrou, Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 1958
- Walter A. Staehelin: Keramische Forschungen aus bernischen Archiven. In: Keramikfreunde der Schweiz: Mitteilungsblatt. Nr. 81 (1970), S. 3–34.
- Robert L. Wyss: Kachelöfen, in: Bern und die bildenden Künste, in: Illustrierte Berner Enzyklopädie, Bd. IV. Kunst und Kultur im Kanton Bern, Bern 1987, S. 107-109.
- Website Hôtel Du Peyrou