Departure of Colmar’s Green train
Here is our departure point.
Click on the tabs or on the map pins to discover many historic places of Colmar.
“La Rue des Têtes” – the Heads Street
The “Rue des Têtes” (Heads Street) owes its name to the Heads House “Maison des Têtes” built in 1609 by Burger.
This house is decorated with statuettes and 111 small human heads, and has one of the most remarkable oriel windows in Colmar.
The gable is topped by a tin statue of a cooper, by Auguste Bartholdi.
“La Rue des Marchands” – the Merchants Street – Bartholdi Museum
The house number 30 is the birthplace of the Colmar sculptor Auguste Bartholdi. Today it is the Bartholdi Museum.
Auguste Bartholdi was born in Colmar on August, 2nd, 1834.
Bartholdi became the official sculptor of the city of Colmar and his fame spread rapidly beyond his hometown.
The sculptor, creator of the monumental “Lion of Belfort” and New York’s “Statue of Liberty”(1880), died in Paris on October, 3rd, 1904.
A large number of his studies and projects are presented at Colmar’s Bartholdi Museum, inaugurated in 1922 in the house that the artist’s widow donated to the city after his death.
Refurbished and greatly expanded, the museum is now the pride of the cultural legacy of Colmar.
At Colmar, you can also admire several works of Bartholdi :
- The General Rapp statue and the fountain topped by the statue of Admiral Bruat on the Champ de Mars,
- The Hirn monument, physician and mathematician, in the park near the Church St Pierre,
- The Roesselmann Fountain on the Place des Six Montagnes Noires (Six Black Mountains Square),
- On the corner of the Marché Couvert (Covered Market), the fountain topped by a jolly wine grower drinking from his « loyala » (a small wooden barrel),
- Near the Old Customs House or “Koïfhus”, the fountain topped by a statue from the Imperial General Lazarus of Schwendi,
- The gable of the « Maison des Têtes » (The House of Heads) topped by a pretty pewter statue of a cooper.
The Collegiate Church of St. Martin
The church was built in 1784 on the site of the former St. Martin’s cemetery.
There are 2 buildings are of interest:
- The Adolph House
- The old Guard House
St. Martins’ Church in Colmar is one of the most beautiful examples of Gothic architecture in the Haut Rhin.
Its great size is undoubtedly the reason it is often wrongly called a “cathedral”.
The “Maison Pfister”
The Pfister House was built in 1537 by a hatter from Besançon called Scherer. It is considered one of Colmar’s architectural symbols.
This building is especially remarkable for its painted murals, which combine biblical themes with allegorical figures and portraits of emperors. These murals illustrate the tastes of the bourgeoisie in the 16th century.
“Le Koïfhus” – the old Customs House
The Koïfhus was in the heart of the economic and political life of Colmar during the middle Ages.
It was surrounded by other buildings, now destroyed, which completed its economic vocation: the big butchery, the Iron House (depository for iron and other metals), the Ankenhaus (for fats), the Mint, the Granary and the Salt Cellar.
Place de l’Ancienne Douane
This square was created only after the mill canal, which formerly crossed it, was covered over and the Butchery and the 13th century mill, which used to stand there, had been demolished.
In 1897, a stone fountain was built with an octagonal basin and topped by a large central pillar which is a bronze statue by Auguste Bartholdi of Baron Lazarre of Schwendi, the lord of Holandsberg (1522-1583).
The Tanners’ District
Until the 18th century, the tanners district was completely reserved for tanners.
It was restored by the department of Historic Monuments of the city of Colmar.
The houses, mostly located along the river, are absolutely typical. Very narrow and very tall, and built without basements, they are built on a high stone wall, upper floors having timber frame walls filled with a mixture of straw and clay.
The roofs are very extensive often having openings at several different levels, some set back from the others, allowing the tanners to dry their skins.
“La petite Venise” – Little Venice
One of the best known views of historic Colmar: Little Venice.
Along the “Lauch” discover the little Venice with its old timber frame houses which are opened to the river. The river Lauch was used as a communication canal in the past, especially by greengrocers.
The “Berthe Molly” street
Voltaire lived in this street from 1753 to 1754.
“La Place du Marché aux Fruits” – the Fruit Market
This square was created during the French Revolution.
2 important buildings board the square:
- The Kern House, a high building dating from the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century, which unites on the same façade Gothic mullion windows and a roof with Alsatian Renaissance characteristics.
- The High Court is in the former building of the Sovereign Council. Built by the architects Chassain and Blaise de Rungs (Colmar) in 1769-1771, it is a French Classical style.
The Church of Saint Mathieu
The Franciscan Order settled in Colmar in the middle of the 13th century.
In 1534, the Franciscans left Colmar, nearly annihilated by the Black Death.
With the arrival of the Reformation in Colmar the church became a place of shrine for the Protestants.
The recently restored Gothic and Renaissance church was renamed Saint Matthew in 1967.
Today the church is a popular concert place because of its extraordinary acoustic.
In the nave there is organ built by Andreas Silbermann in 1732.
The Synagogue of Colmar
The Colmar Synagogue, built in 1843 in a neo-classical style, is the seat of Judaism in the “Haut Rhin” administrative district.
The Vauban Street
There you can enjoy the marvellous Animated Toys and Little Train Museum.
The Unterlinden Museum
The church and the convent buildings have been housing the Unterlinden Museum since 1849. The buildings had been abandoned since the French Revolution, and were saved by the company Schongauer in 1847.
The museum is the second most visited French Fine Arts Museum after the Louvre. The masterpiece that gives it its international reputation is the Issenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald.
The museum presents collections of religious art collections, archaeology, popular art and modern art.
It covers an overall surface area of 7900 square meters, including the current building, the completely rebuilt former municipal baths and a new brick building for 20th century art.
The museum is divided in three architectural and museum times: the chapel containing Matthias Grünewald’s Issenheim altarpiece and in the cloister are the medieval collections; in the baths you will find the 19th century collections; and the 20th century collections and temporary exhibitions are presented in the new building.
