If we are to believe its name, Happiness through Achievement, which is chiseled over its entrance, then this is a very happy building indeed—not to mention an enlightened one, since its Neoclassical architecture arose in the year of the French Revolution, 1789. Felix Meritis was a society whose building housed committees dedicated to the study and promotion of economics, science, painting, music, and literature. It held an observatory, and its concert hall had the likes of Schumann and Brahms dropping by to tickle the ivories. Between 1949 and 1968, the Communist Party took over the building. Then various experimental theater companies began calling it home before it settled into its current role as European Center for Art and Science. Readings, panels, and discussions are hosted here regularly with the aim of "connecting cultures." Drop by to pick up a program or to check the hours of its Philosophy Café.
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