Colmar – My Visit to this Magical French town

Colmar - My Visit to this Magical French Town

Colmar is a magical town located about 73 kilometres from Strasbourg and is well known as being a charming and picturesque medieval town. Linda Rowe, a guest writer for A French Collection, holidayed in Colmar and shares with us her take-aways of the best things to see and do, some of the history she uncovered while exploring the town and her personal thoughts of this magical town. I know you'll love finding out more about this town that's also featured annually in our Advent Calendar and our popular 2024 France Calendar.

The Turbulent History of Colmar

Colmar is nestled in the middle of the vine-covered foothills of the Southern Vosges in north-eastern France, in a strategic area close to the Swiss and German borders. This is perhaps one of the reasons for its turbulent history. It was first registered in the 9th Century, but it took several years before it was given Imperial City status. 

Later, during The Thirty Years' War, it was taken by Sweden, later King Louis XIV conquered the city, then in the following years and wars it passed from Germany to France (WW1), back to Germany (1941) then in 1945, back to France. As a result, you'll see many historical monuments.

The old town is a feast for the eyes with many traditional timber-framed houses and an abundance of historic buildings of different architectural styles. For example, the Koifhaus is Renaissance and Maison Pfister, a merchant's house built of stone (1537), with its external spiral staircase turret, carved balcony, bay windows and decorative frescoes and medallions (all showing off wealth), is a symbol of old Colmar. 

Next door is a half-timbered house owned by a draper as indicated by a man carved into the corner of the wall. He’s holding a bar, Colmar’s measure of a meter. In the middle ages it was common for cities to have their own meter of length. The German-style House of the Heads is a three-story building with one hundred and six grotesque masks around the walls.

St. Martin’s Church, erected in 1235 using the local Vosges stone and a colourful tiled roof, is an imposing and beautiful landmark. There are some intricate reliefs above the portals as well as sculpture cherubs and gargoyles. Inside you'll find beautiful stained glass windows and a sculpture of The Last Supper.

In the restored epicentre of the protected old town we found La Petite Rue des Tanneurs, a very old quarter of cramped five to six storey buildings near a canal. The buildings compete for space in the sun to dry their freshly tanned hides with the upper floor, without glass in the windows, acts as a drying vent.

Two huge old churches, St Martin (started 1235) and the Dominican church (started 1283) both have beautiful stained glass windows and famous artworks inside. St Martin is Gothic and built from beautiful local stone.

Museums of Colmar

There are many museums, of which we visited three:

1. The Auguste Bartholdi museum (famous sculptor) is located in the house where he was born and exhibits his various works. These include designs and models of the Statue of Liberty (Freedom) which was unveiled in New York in 1886. It was interesting to see the development of his models from initial drawings to final creation. There are many huge monuments in various cities around the world, which he created.

2. The Unterlinden Museum, named for the trees nearby, is housed in a 13th century convent. The convent was a hospice that treated leprosy and syphilis patients who were outcasts. The famous Isenheim Altarpiece by German painter Grunewald was commissioned so that patients could be strengthened by looking at the suffering Christ on the cross. There are many other works here such as works by Monet and Picasso.

3. As we walked through Colmar, we saw a character dressed in a “Hansi” costume, a traditional Alsatian dress, representing the “Hansi” museum. The "Hansi" museum celebrates the work of the painter and cartoonist Jean-Jacques Waltz (Uncle Hansi), born in the Alsatian region in 1873, who was also a war hero. An entire floor of the museum is like the ancient city of Alsace. Now we understood the origin of sculptures that we had previously seen in Strasbourg.

Petite Venise

Our favourite neighbourhood in Colmar was “Petite Venise”, a captivating labyrinth lined with traditional colourful Burgher houses with flower-filled balconies. The covered market hall, built in local stone, has doors opening onto the canal to allow market gardeners to unload their flat-bottomed craft.

There are wonderful fish restaurants in this area which was once the fishmongers' quarter, the place where most of the fishermen and boatmen lived. The fish were stored in ponds or sold in the market. We were recommended “Aux Trois Poissons”, located across from the canal, for our first night. It was delightful, the food and wine superb with a lovely “amuse bouchee”!

Staying in Colmar was a wonderful base to explore the wine route over a couple of days.

Thanks to Linda for the wonderful recap of her time spent in the magical French town of Colmar. After studying French for six years throughout secondary school, Linda always dreamed of going to France. However, it was to be many years before that became a reality, and although that first visit was only two days in Paris as part of a whistle stop European tour, she was smitten!

Since then, using their long-service leave, and now being retired, Linda has enjoyed a number of self-drive longer visits exploring different parts of France, usually staying in B&B's. With another French adventure starting soon, Linda enjoys writing about their travels and creating photo books so she can revisit and savour their wonderful memories. 

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