Berlioz’s Birthplace – La Côte Saint-André
The Hector Berlioz Museum
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Berlioz’s Birthplace – La Côte Saint-AndréThe Hector Berlioz Museum
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This page is also available in French
“ Vers cette maison qu’habite maintenant et pour toujours l’âme de BERLIOZ,
on viendra désormais de toutes parts en pèlerinage.” A. Parménie, 1935
[To this house inhabited now and
forever by the soul of BERLIOZ,
henceforward pilgrims will come from everywhere]
The Berlioz family home, which is now the Hector Berlioz Museum, was built around 1680, and was acquired by Berlioz’s great-grandparents about fifty years later. The house was almost completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century and has changed little since. The family lived there until July 1848, when Berlioz’s father, Dr Louis Berlioz, died. The house although unoccupied remained in the family until 1874. It had two further owners for just over fifty years, and was then purchased by Madame Dumien who donated it to the Association of the Friends of Berlioz in 1932. The museum was formally inaugurated on 7 July 1935. The building, which was classified as an historic monument in 1942, underwent a series of restorations. Since 1968 it has become a departmental museum, the property of the Département de l’Isère. See also on museum’s website. The postal address of the Museum is: 69 rue de la République, 38 261 La Côte-Saint-André Cedex, Isère, France.
The Hector Berlioz Museum is awarded the title of “Maison des Illustres”
At the initiative of M. Frédéric Mitterrand, the French Minister of Culture and Communication, the title of Maison des Illustres (‘House of the Illustrious’) was created in 2010 to raise the cultural and social profile of such establishments and publicise their distinctive heritage. The title is awarded to houses of exceptional cultural interest and guarantees an outstanding welcome to all members of the public. The Hector Berlioz Museum was selected among the establishments to receive the award for its status as a heritage site. The Maison des Illustres plaque was then installed on the front wall of the Museum.
For posters of temporary exhibitions held at the museum from 2004 to 2018 see the page Temporary exhibitions.
The Hector Berlioz Museum in picturesUnless otherwise specified, all the photographs reproduced on this page were taken by Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb; other pictures have been scanned from postcards in our own collection. © Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction reserved.
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2014
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2013
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2012
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2011
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2010
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2008
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2003
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 1998
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 1935
The precursor to the Hector Berlioz Museum (1903-1935)
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2014
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2013
The garden gates
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2012
The garden of the Museum in August
during a concert “sous le Balcon d’Hector”
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2011
The Museum in August
The banner on the building relates to the exhibition entitled “Fantin-Latour interprète Berlioz”; it opened on 9 July 2011 and continued until 31 December 2011.
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2010
The following two photos were taken in August. The banner relates to the “Berlioz en Russie” exhibition which was held from 1 July – 31 December 2010.
The next two photos were taken in May.
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2008
The banner on the building relates to the exhibition entitled “Divas. Les interprètes de Berlioz” which ran from 27 June to 31 December 2008 and was on display at the Museum at the time this photo was taken.
The building adjacent to the Berlioz family home, shown above behind the Divas exhibition banner, was purchased in 1991 by the Conseil Général de l’Isère and since the 2002-2003 renovations has become an integral part of the museum. It houses temporary exhibitions, the Thérèse Husson library, and administrative offices.
The notice to the left of the entrance
The plaque to the right of the entrance
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 2003
The garden after the 2002-2003 restorations
The grand salon after the 2002-2003 restorations
The above two pictures are reproduced here courtesy of Hector Berlioz. Episodes de la vie d’un artiste, published by the Musée Hector-Berlioz, under the direction of Chantal Spillemaecker, Grenoble, 2003 (pp. 77-78).
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 1998
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 1935
This picture has been scanned from Souvenir de L’Inauguraton de la Maison Natale de Berlioz, published by Rocher Frères in 1935 in memory of Édouard Rocher, a contemporary and friend of Berlioz. A copy of this booklet is in our collection. Among others, the booklet contains a list of
almost all the items exhibited in the museum at the time. The quotation at the top of the page is taken from this booklet.
The Hector Berlioz Museum in 1935
We have not been able to establish the exact date of this card which was published by Courtin in Grenoble.
The precursor to the Hector Berlioz Museum (1903-1935)
At the beginning of the 20th century, a Société Berlioz, later to become the Association des Amis de Berlioz, was formed in order to bring together some memorabilia of the composer. Subsequently, together with M. Meyer (mayor of La Côte Saint-André), Jean Celle (director of the École Primaire Supérieure) and Joseph Charbonnel (a descendant of Antoine Charbonnel, Berlioz’s fellow student at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris), the first “Berlioz Museum” was created and installed in the Salle des Lions of the Château Louis XI at La Côte in 1903.
Salle des Lions of the Château Louis XI
which housed the “BerliozMuseum”
The information regarding the 1903-1935 museum and its accompanying picture are from A. Moulin et al., La Côte Saint-André en Isère (Gillonnay: Alexandre Moulin, 2005; pages 127 and 131).
© (unless otherwise stated) Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin for all the pictures and information on this page.
Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.
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