The buildings of the University of Strassburg are arranged in two
groups; one in the northern and the other in the southern part of the
city. All the buildings of the medical department were erected in the
neighborhood of the hospital, which is located between the south wall
of the city and the River Ill.
In front of the old "Fischerthor," or Fishergate, the college house,
or college building proper, in which are located the offices, lecture
rooms, etc., was erected. A front perspective view of this building is
shown in the lower part of the annexed cut, taken from the _Illustrirte
Zeitung_. Behind this main building, and between the Universitäts and
Goethe Strasse, the buildings of the Chemical Institute, the Physical
Institute, with its tower; the Botanical Institute, with the gardens
and hothouses, and the Astronomical Institute, with its observatory
and movable dome, are located. These buildings were designed by the
architects Hermann, Eggert, Brion, and Salomon, all of Strassburg.
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE STRASSBURG UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS.]
[Illustration: THE COLLEGE HOUSE OF THE STRASSBURG UNIVERSITY.]
The main building was designed by Prof. Warth, of Karlsruhe, and the
style of the same is a noble Italian renaisance of the early period.
Upon a base of red sandstone the basement is erected in freestone
rustic masonry, upon which the first story is erected in smooth stone
with conspicuous joints. The top story is constructed with arched
windows separated by Ionic columns or pilasters. The central portion,
which projects from the front of the building, has a grand staircase
and two corner pavilions. The upper part of the central portion is
constructed with fluted Corinthian columns, between which niches are
provided, in which busts of the ideal representatives of the faculties
are placed, viz., Homer, Paulus, Solon, Hippocrates, Aristotle, and
Archimedes. Above the cornice, in the tympanum, is placed a group, of
which Athene, with the torch of science, is the main figure. In the
niches in the pavilions at the corners of the middle portion are the
statues of Germania and Argentina, the representative of the free city
of Strassburg. The pavilions at the ends of the building are ornamented
by thirty-six statues of German scientists. The middle portion of the
building directly beyond the grand staircase is occupied by a large
open court, having a rich glass roof. The left part of the lower story
is divided into lecture rooms, and the right side into rooms for the
officers, etc. The collections are in the upper story, and the chapel,
or main hall, is in the middle of the building.