Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 34 Birris Street (formerly 12 and 142) in Westhoffen, Lower Rhine, is a remarkable example of 17th-century Alsatian civil architecture. Its gable on the street, its masonry ground floor and its wooden floor illustrate the constructive techniques of the era. The carriageway door, decorated with entangled statues, a vegetal arch and a mask, as well as its re-use lintel decorated with anangelots and a cartridge imitating ironwork, testify to a meticulous artistic know-how.

The date of 1601, engraved on the shield key of the carriageway door with vine and serpette motifs, suggests an early origin in the century. An inscription dated 1842 (perhaps initially 1642) and a maxim accompany this decoration. In the 19th century, an annex housing was added, partially modifying the original structure. The elements protected since 1931 include the cariatides of the portal and an inscription embedded in the façade.

The building, now divided into two plots, reflects the architectural and urban transformations that occurred between the 17th and 19th centuries. The re-use of materials (such as the pedestals of the old curved door for the new carriageway door) and the condemnation of a door on the street illustrate these adaptations. Its inscription in the title of historic monuments underscores its heritage value, both for its architecture and for its carved decoration.

Westhoffen, located in the Bas-Rhin in Alsace, was in modern times a village marked by a rural economy, where half-timbered houses served both as a dwelling, as a storage place (caves for wine or foodstuffs) and sometimes as a workshop. These buildings reflected the social status of their owners, often winemakers, artisans or local merchants. The presence of wine motifs on the cart door of this house could indicate a link with viticulture, a major activity of the region since the Middle Ages.

The inscription of the house in 1931 is part of a period of heritage awareness in France, where regional civil monuments, hitherto less valued than religious or military buildings, begin to be protected for their historical and aesthetic representativeness. The Bas-Rhin, rich in half-timbered houses, sees several of its buildings classified during the inter-war period, marking a desire to preserve this Alsatian vernacular heritage.

External links