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Origin and history

The house at 4 rue de la Poterne in Rouffach, Haut-Rhin, dates from the 4th quarter of the 16th century (1583). The building served as a stove (seat) for the Aus Eléphant Corporation, bringing together wood, leather and building artisans. Its façade retains a mulled chambranle door, surmounted by a relief representing an elephant (today wooded) and the 1583 vintage. The elephant, an emblem of the corporation, was carved by Frantz Baur, a municipal architect who also designed the town hall of Rouffach in 1581.

The building was inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1929, protecting its facade, roof and a room on the first floor. The floors were thoroughly reshaped, retaining only the picketed angle chain, while the openings were redone. An adjacent annex, pierced by a door in the middle of the hanger dated 1811, completes the whole. According to an ancient notice by T. Walter, the room on the first floor had windows decorated with torso columns, and the carved door of the elephant would have changed its place over the centuries.

The corporation At the Elephant played a central role in the economic and social life of Rouffach in the Renaissance. Corporate stoves, like this one, served as meeting places, regulating trades and representing the interests of artisans to local authorities. The elephant's choice as an emblem, although stunned today, probably symbolized strength, wisdom or a connection to local traditions or exotic stories popular at the time.

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