Immeuble de l'entreprise Leiseing

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The Leiseing building was constructed in 1930 for the Société anonyme Jacob Leiseing, public works contractor, under the direction of architect Louis Rey, rue Bourbonnoux, in Bourges. Holder of numerous work contracts for public administrations and National Defence, the Leiseing company had significant activity on the local level from 1908 until the 1970s, when it ceased operations. It was present on most of the major construction sites in Bourges in the interwar period. The building on rue Michel-de-Bourges, the company headquarters, was requisitioned by German authorities in 1942 and became the headquarters of the Gestapo in the Cher. Elevated on the street and opening onto a courtyard with outbuildings, it is constructed in ashlar stone and reinforced concrete. Of simple rectangular plan, it presents four levels and five bays of windows delimited by false colossal pilasters, in strong projection, which support an imposing cornice. The terrace was arranged as a garden. Above a basement where the boiler room and an archives room were located, the building comprised offices on the ground floor and three storeys for apartment use. In this modern and functional building, an elevator served the floors and a collective laundry was installed at the top level. Referring to the modern neo-classical movement, the street façade, of great architectural quality down to its details such as the metal railings, was identified by the Regional Conservation of Historic Monuments as a significant testimony of interwar architecture in France and may be considered, together with the Festival Hall (current Maison de la Culture, Mérimée record PA00132557) and the Prés Fichaux garden (Mérimée record PA00096939), as one of the rare original and remarkable examples of architectural creation in Bourges in the 1930s. It is interesting to note that the Post Office Hotel, located across from the Leiseing building, and built only four years earlier, was still completely in a neo-Gothic style.