Baron Haussmann

Georges-Eugène, Baron Haussmann (March 27, 1809 – January 11, 1891) was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris. He was born in that city of a Protestant family, German in origin.

Haussmann the Hero

"How ugly Paris seems after a year's absence. How one chokes in these dark, narrow and dank corridors that we like to call the streets of Paris! One would think that one was in a subterranean city, that's how heavy is the atmosphere, how profound is the darkness!" -the Vicomte de Launay, 1838,(as quoted in Rice, p 9)

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Historian Shelley Rice, in her book "Parisian Views" says that "most Parisians during perceived as dirty, crowded, and unhealthy . . . Covered with mud and makeshift shanties, damp and fetid, filled with the signs of poverty as well as the signs of garbage and waste left there by the inadequate and faulty sewer system . . ."" (p 9). For these people, Haussmann was performing a much needed service to the city and to France.

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