The story of Maison Rouge Strasbourg began in 1253, when Strasbourg was a prosperous town under the Holy Roman Empire. The building housed the inn Stadelhof, which gradually expanded by acquiring the adjacent properties, particularly during the 1500s, and later in 1789. The earliest reference to its current name dates to 1387, when it was referred to as 'Zu dem Rothen Huse' or 'to the Red House' in German.
In 1879, the hodge-podge hotel was acquired by a new owner. This owner, later in 1892, proposed a bold plan to demolish the buildings and rebuild the hotel with what at the time was modern architecture. When the reconstruction was done, the new building was christened with the name we are familiar with today: Hôtel de la Maison Rouge.
The hotel became the host of the first movie screenings in Strasbourg in 1897. Unfortunately, a devastating fire in 1898 forced the hotel to once again undergo renovation and reconstruction.
The early 20th century were both turbulent and exciting times for Maison Rouge. During the First World War, it had been hit by a bomb, and a popular legend is that the bomb's shrapnels can still be found in the hotel's walls. Fortunately, the hotel was restored in time to catch the Années folles of the 1920s. Meaning 'the crazy years', many notable figures visited Maison Rouge during this decade, including British author and Nobel laureate in Literature Rudyard Kipling, and top-billed French actress Mistinguett. Madame Mistinguett's visit was so fondly remembered, one of the hotel's restaurants, the Salons Mistinguett, is dedicated to her.
