Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Cour des Chaînes is a historical monument located at 11-15 rue des Franciscans in Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin department. The present building originated at the end of the 16th century, when the provost of Landser Hans Lienhart Blech acquired the plot in 1594. It destroys existing buildings – present for at least the fourteenth century – to build a bourgeois house with a tower of stairs, backed by the medieval wall of the city. This central body, still visible, constitutes the historical core of the monument.

In 1675, the property was sold to Jean Jacques Sisson, treasurer of Mulhouse, who undertook work of beautification. The painted ceilings on the first floor, rediscovered in 1982, probably date back to this period. A century later, in 1773, the industrialist Jean Michel Schwartz bought the house and made major changes: he added two lateral wings, reshaped the windows of the central body into segment arches, and installed workshops, probably in the new wings and related buildings. These transformations reflect the economic evolution of Mulhouse, marked by the nascent industrialization.

Partially classified since 1988 (for its painted decorations) and registered since 1981 (for its facades and turret), the Cour des Chaînes illustrates the architectural strata of Mulhouse, from medieval remains to pre-industrial adaptations. Its restoration, engaged after 1982, saved a heavily degraded building, a witness to the urban and social changes of the city between Renaissance and the Enlightenment.

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