Hôtel de la Marine
A bit of History

Let us begin with the prestigious location of the museum. In 1748, the city of Paris decided to erect an equestrian statue in honour of Louis XV. Naturally, such a monument could not be placed just anywhere. A new square was required, one at least equal in grandeur to the Place Vendôme. The King himself was not particularly enthusiastic about the idea and, after much hesitation, reluctantly granted a piece of marshland beside the Tuileries for the project.

Two architectural competitions were held to design the ceremonial square, but neither produced a proposal that satisfied the King. After five years, his chief architect finally presented a plan that won royal approval. It included the construction of two identical palaces to the north and an open view towards the Seine to the south and the Champs-Élysées to the west. This is how the square we know today came into being: the Place de la Concorde.

From 1765 onwards, the eastern of the two palaces housed the Garde-Meuble Royal. Just two years later, the second palace was also taken over for the same purpose.

On 13 July 1789, revolutionaries seized the weapons displayed in the armoury. The following day, they obtained ammunition from the Bastille. In 1792, the equestrian statue on what had by then been renamed the “Place de la Révolution” was torn down. In its place, the revolutionaries erected the guillotine, which was used to execute Louis XVI and, a few months later, Queen Marie Antoinette.

During the night of 16 September 1792, thieves stole the Crown Jewels, worth almost 30 million francs, from the Hôtel de la Marine. Part of the furniture collection was also lost, auctioned off or simply destroyed.

After the Revolution, there were no longer any royal residences requiring furnishing. Nevertheless, the institution was re-established under the name Garde-Meuble des Consuls, albeit at a different location. Today it is known as the Mobilier National and remains responsible for furnishing the Élysée Palace and other national institutions.

The Second World War also left its mark on the building. The courtyard is named after naval commander Honoré d’Estienne d’Orves, who was executed by the German Wehrmacht in 1941 as part of a reprisal operation. In 1944, the German Navy occupied the building and offered fierce resistance. The holes still visible in the wooden shutters today were used as firing ports.

Since the departure of the Ministry of the Navy in 2015, the building has been managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux. A major restoration project between 2017 and 2021 returned the interiors to their late eighteenth-century appearance. Conservators removed up to eighteen layers of paint, revealing original decorative schemes beneath. Where curtains and wallpapers no longer retained their original character, period materials and traditional techniques were used to recreate them.

The meticulously maintained inventories made it possible to identify numerous original pieces of furniture and textiles. These were brought together from institutions including the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Louvre Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD), the Cité de la Céramique de Sèvres, the Mobilier National, the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), the Palace of Versailles, the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) and the Banque de France. Donations and long-term loans from descendants of the Intendants and other private collectors completed the collection.

On 10 June 2021, the Hôtel de la Marine was officially inaugurated by President Emmanuel Macron. In other words, it has only recently reopened to the public.