Over the years, Erlanger Street has seen many tragedies. So much so that it is called the most “cursed” street in Paris. What happened in this street in the 16th arrondissement of the capital?
The 16th arrondissement of the capital is rather quiet. It is one of the most middle-class districts of Paris, located on the right bank of the Seine. Whether it is the Auteuil district, La Muette, Porte-Dauphine or even Chaillot, this place is very popular with young couples and families, particularly in real estate. But one street in particular darkens this place where life is good. According to Yann Jehanno, president of the Laforêt real estate agency, certain neighborhoods which have “bad press” are more difficult to sell, he tells the newspaper Le Parisien. According to him, Erlanger Street, which extends over 495 meters between rue d’Auteuil and boulevard Exelmans, is considered by many to be the most “cursed” street in Paris.
But what happened to cause this street to be blacklisted by new buyers? Several tragedies have indeed occurred there. It was on this street, in 1975, that the singer Mike Brandt committed suicide at the age of 28, by falling from the sixth floor of an apartment located at number 6. Since the death of the famous singer, other tragedies followed one another.
Six years later, on June 11, 1981, another sordid affair took place at number 10 rue Erlanger. Issei Sagawa, a Japanese student, made headlines after killing Renée Hartevelt, a 24-year-old Dutch woman, with a rifle in her apartment. Nicknamed the “Japanese cannibal”, he then raped her, then cut her up with an electric saw before eating her body parts for three days. Despite the horror, the young man was declared irresponsible and was released after the charges were dismissed. After being interned in Villejuif, he was extradited to Japan where he wrote books, appeared in erotic films and advertisements for meat restaurants! He died (free) on November 24, 2022 at the age of 73.
Finally, in February 2019, a fire (the deadliest since 2005), causing the death of 10 people and causing 96 victims, occurred in this same street. At the origin of this arson: a drunk woman, in the middle of a crisis of dementia. This time, the forty-year-old was judged “criminally responsible for the facts and tried for ‘destruction by fire leading to death […] and injuries’, the magistrates considered in their indictment order“, specifies France 3 in an article published in 2022.