Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The house located at 4 rue Saint-Martin in Colmar, in the department of Haut-Rhin (Grand Est), is a historical monument probably dating back to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. Although its exact date is not established, its window decor and architectural elements, such as the street doors and the spiral staircase, clearly reflect the Renaissance style. These stylistic features allow it to be located in this period of artistic and cultural transition in Alsace.

The building was partially protected by an inscription in the title of historical monuments on 18 June 1929, specifically covering the street door, the entrance door and the stairway with screws. These elements, typical of the Renaissance Alsatian civil architecture, bear witness to the importance attached to ornamentation and functionality in the bourgeois houses of the time. The house, now owned by the municipality of Colmar, is part of a rich urban heritage, marked by the influence of cultural exchanges between France and the Germanic regions.

The location of the house, in the historical centre of Colmar, reflects the dense and organized urbanization characteristic of the Alsatian cities from the 16th century. At that time, Colmar was a major commercial and intellectual hub, attracting artisans, merchants and artists. The bourgeois houses, like the one on Rue Saint-Martin, served as both a place of residence, a workshop and a symbol of social status. Their architecture often blended defensive elements inherited from the Middle Ages with more refined decorations inspired by the Italian Renaissance, disseminated by local engravers and masters.

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