This monograph dedicated to the most spectacular example of Parisian First Empire interior architecture retraces the history of the building and the lives of its residents. The Hôtel de Beauharnais, constructed in 1713, gained renown during the Consulate period. In 1803, Josephine Bonaparte acquired the property for her son, Eugene de Beauharnais, and had the building renovated and decorated at great expense. At the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, it was sold to the King of Prussia and became an embassy during the nineteenth century. With its unique Consulate and Empire decor, the palace is an invaluable specimen of Parisian interior architecture. The result of more than ten years of research and restoration work, this book recounts three centuries of European political history through the lives of the Hotel's successive owners

• The hotel de torcy later known as Hotel de Villeroy (1713-1803) / Alexandre Gady
• Andreas Beyer
• Ulrich Leben
• Hans Ottomeyer
• Xavier Bonnet
• Sidonie Lemeux-Fraitot
• Jorg Ebeling
• Ulrich Leben
• Jorg Ebeling
• Jorg Ebeling
• Klaus-Henning von Krosigk
• Jorg Ebeling and Ulrich Leben Eugene de beauharnais: France, Italy, and Bavaria / From the palace of prince Eugene to the legation of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1817) / The empire style: ideals, methods, and objectives (1800-1814) / Furniture, fabrics, and trimmings during the empire / The decorative paintings in the Hotel de Beauharnais / The Prussian legation and the embassy: Jokob Ignaz Hittorff and the Hotel de Beauharnais (1818-1867) / The end of a century (1870-1900) / The two major restauration projects of the twentieth century (1900-1968) / The Palais beauharnais (1933-1945) / A garden during the first empire / A tour of the historic rooms of the Hotel de Beauharnais /