Gare de l'Est: station history
Served by: metro lines 4, 5 and 7, Transilien P.
Did you know?
Served by lines 4, 5 and 7, in the 10th arrondissement, the station is that of Gare de l'Est, opened in 1849 by the Compagnie de Paris à Strasbourg under the name « embarcadère de Strasbourg ». Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte inaugurated it in 1850, and it took its present name in 1854, after a first enlargement linked to the Mulhouse line. Between 1926 and 1931, the station was doubled in size to plans by Jules Bernaut, which meant moving rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin 65 metres to the east.
Anecdote
The neoclassical facade is adorned with a clock flanked by sculptures by Jean-Louis Brian representing the Seine and the Rhine, and crowned by a statue of the city of Strasbourg; the wing built in 1931 repeats the model with the Marne and the Meuse. In the main-line hall, « Le Départ des poilus, août 1914 » by Albert Herter, a painting 5 metres by 12, was restored and reinstalled in 2008. The 2007 renovation, for the arrival of the TGV Est, also renovated the metro station.
Audio guide
By car! Next stop Constantinople
Inaugurated in 1849 as the "pier of Strasbourg", it became the Gare de l 'Est in 1854. On October 4, 1883, the very first Orient-Express left its docks for Constantinople: the legend of luxury travel began in Paris. Its facades and halls have been classified as historical monuments since 1984.
It was also from here that thousands of soldiers left for the front in August 1914. An American painter, Albert Herter, pays tribute to them with Le Départ des poilus, August 1914: a canvas more than 12 meters wide, offered at the station in memory of his son, who died in battle in 1918. Installed in 1926 and restored in 2008, it still dominates the Main Lines Hall, under the eyes of hurried travellers who rarely raise their heads.
The station has also played the star: it can be seen in La Grande Vadrouille (1966) and Amélie Poulain (2001).
Around Gare de l'Est
- Gare de l'Est, 90 m away — One of the oldest Paris stations, opened in 1849, whose main hall holds a commemorative 1914 painting.
- Jardin Villemin, 300 m away — A former military ground turned public park in the 1970s, a green haven in the 10th arrondissement.
- Canal Saint-Martin, 1000 m away — A picturesque plane-tree-lined canal, prized for its locks and romantic footbridges.