Travel to the Black Forest

Day 2 Colmar

Colmar: Upon our arrival in this city of the French Alsace, at one of the roundabouts to the entrance of the city, the first thing we see was a replica of the Statue of Liberty in New York. This is because in 1834 was born in Colmar Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, creator of the famous statue. The center of the old city, well-preserved, houses several buildings, sometimes large, in German Gothic and early Renaissance and ancient churches, including the collegiate church of San Martín (thirteenth century) which is the largest and more remarkable.

To walk around the city we followed the itinerary recommended by the tourist office of the city. Although we did not visited it, the first point of interest is the Museum Unterlinden, which highlights by the famous Isenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald. At number 19 rue des Têtes, we contemplate the "House of Heads (Maison des Têtes)" built in 1609 and listed as a historic monument since December 6, 1898. It has an extraordinary three-storey bay window and is decorated with 111 small human heads. The painted decoration combines biblical themes, allegorical figures and representations of the emperors.

The Dominican Church (Église des Dominicains), located on the Rue des Serruriers, was built in the years 1289-1364 and highlights for showing the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Roses, which is considered the masterpiece of the local artist Martin Schongauer, from fifteenth century, as well as the fourteenth century stained glasses and the choir stalls of the Baroque period. To one side is the old Dominican convent in which stands a cloister of the fourteenth century and the Rue des Clefs is the City hall of the eighteenth century.

we continue towards the Place de la Cathédrale, where is located the Collegiate Church of Saint-Martin (thirteenth century). The church is surrounded by several portals of rather small dimensions. In the interior the most remarkable features are the exuberant Baroque organ case of 1755 and the Gothic stained glass windows of 13th century. In the same square is the former former guard house (Ancien Corps de Garde, 1575), which highlights by his bay window and the Adolf house from the fifteenth century.. In the corner of rue Mercière with rue des Marchands we found the Maison Pfister (1537), classified as a historic monument since March 14, 1927, where highlights its wooden galleries, especially his two floor bay window located in the corner, and their paintings.

We passed near the Bartholdi Museum and, in the Place du Marché-aux-Fruits (market square of the fruit), we see the former guard house (Ancienne Douane or Koifhus), built in 1480, with additions in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. We went through the tunnel that passes under it and we saw the Fountain Schwendi (Bartholdi). we continued to the Quartier des Tanneurs (Tanner´s district), restored between 1968 et 1974, with beautiful half-timbered houses, and the covered market, located along the river Lauch, that highlights by the reddish color of its bricks and his wrought iron columns.

We finished at Quartier de la poissonnerie (The fishmonger´s district), where some fishing motifs decorate their facades, and Little Venice, an area of the neighborhood Krutenau which owes its name to the original alignment of their houses on both sides of the river Lauch. We return to the beginning of the route through the Roesselmann Fountain (Bartholdi, 1888), the church of St Pierre and the Champ-de-Mars park.