On Sunday 18 September 2022 from 10 am to 5 pm, as part of the European Heritage Days, come and discover the Talleyrand Hotel, a majestic 18th century building built for the favourite minister of King Louis XV! Immerse yourself in history and relive in particular that of the Marshall Plan, whose implementation and coordination have been accomplished within these walls. Freely visit the different rooms to get a glimpse of a typical Old Regime building, and take a step back in time.
The Talleyrand Hotel was built between 1767 and 1769 as a private residence for Louis Phélypeaux, Count of Saint-Florentin. As secretary of state at the king’s house, minister of state, secretary of state for foreign affairs, and personal friend of the king, Saint-Florentin was one of the most influential figures of the reign of Louis XV. The house is in neoclassical style. In 1812, the residence was acquired by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. The famous French statesman made it his Parisian residence and one of the centres of French social and political life. It was within these walls that Talleyrand conducted the preparatory negotiations for the Congress of Vienna and received Tsar Alexander I of Russia, King Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia, Emperor Francis I of Austria, and the Duke of Wellington, the British ambassador. From 1838 to 1950, the house was owned by the Rothschild family. After the Second World War, the US State Department leased the Talleyrand Hotel from 1948 to 1950 and then bought the Talleyrand Hotel in 1950 to establish the European headquarters of the Marshall Plan administration and to bring together negotiators from the 17 participating European countries. From 2000 to 2010, the Talleyrand Hotel was the subject of an extensive restoration campaign, undertaken by the State Department in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund. Today, the diplomatic lounges, constituting the George C. Marshall Centre, have been restored to create a space for conferences, meetings and receptions. The Talleyrand Hotel is also rented by the Parisian offices of an American law firm.