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Origin and history

The Saint-Gilles farm in Wintzenheim was built in the 12th century, with the construction of a building in the Saint-Gilles valley. In 1325, a chapel decorated with murals was mentioned during expansion work, including a new choir. This secondary priory then depended on the priory Saint-Pierre de Colmar, himself linked to the Clunisian abbey of Payerne in Switzerland. The chapel, dedicated to Saint Gilles, was a place of devotion before the Reformation transformed its use.

In 1575, the town of Colmar acquired the estate after the introduction of the Reformation, converting it into a farm until 1714. That year, Louis XIV entrusted the church, then abandoned, to the Grand Chapter of Strasbourg Cathedral. A statue of Saint Gilles, inspired by a medieval work, was installed after a church reconciliation in 1713. The murals, restored in 1777, were hidden under plaster during the Revolution.

Sold as a national property in 1793, the property was bought by Colmar before being sold in 1815 to a merchant, Jean Jacques Hanhart. The latter disacralized the chapel, dividing it into two levels to create a dwelling, and adding a lantern. Since then, the site, classified as a historical monument in 2002, has preserved its U-shaped plan with remains of the chapel, 14th century murals, and architectural elements of the 19th and 18th centuries.

The building thus illustrates a transition between religious and agricultural use, marked by major transformations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The murals, rediscovered after being hidden, testify to his past as a clunisian priory. Today, the farm remains an example of architectural and historical adaptation, mixing medieval heritage and post-revolutionary changes.

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