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Origin and history

The former customs office of Strasbourg, called s'Kaafhüs in local dialect, is an emblematic building of the historic centre, built in 1358 by the boatmen's corporation. Located on the left bank of the Ill River, near the Raven Bridge and the Old Fish Market Square, it was initially used to control, tax and store goods transiting through the Rhine (wine, fish, tobacco from the 17th century). Directed by a Kaufhausherr (elected bourgeois), he also housed a fair, a currency exchange hotel, and struck the Strasbourg currency. Enlarged in 1389 and in 1507 after a fire, it was modified in the 18th and 19th centuries before becoming a market for wines and then fish.

In 1803 the building lost its customs function and subsequently hosted a wine market (until 1842), a tobacco shop (1853), and the fish market (1897). Gravely damaged by an allied bombing in 1944, his reconstruction (1962–1965) by architect Robert Will restored his original appearance, with modern additions such as a restaurant and exhibition hall. Ranked a historic monument in 1948, it today symbolizes the commercial and architectural heritage of Strasbourg, mixing medieval history and contemporary conversions.

The ground floor was bought in 1401 by the butcher Spanbett, who operated an inn destroyed by a fire in 1497 and rebuilt in 1507 thanks to the work of Notre-Dame. The medieval cranes, operated by "squirrel cages", disappeared in the 18th century. After the Second World War, the debate opposed plans for parking or reconstruction in the same way. Since 1966, the site has been home to a restaurant (The Old Customs), a local grocery store (La Nouvelle Douane, opened in 2014), and cultural spaces.

Major expansions took place in 1751 (by architect Boudhors) and 1781. The building, owned by the city, illustrates the evolution of urban uses: from medieval commercial regulation to current commercial and tourist functions. Its architecture, marked by reconstructions, preserves traces of its many lives, including the facades and roofs protected since 1948.

The last notable transformation was the fire in the restaurant in 2000, reopened after renovation in 2001. Until 1998, part of the building housed the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg, highlighting its versatile role in the cultural and economic life of the city.

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