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Origin and history

The house on 14 Jewish Street, located in Riquewihr in the Upper Rhine, is a historic monument inscribed since 1981. This building combines architectural elements from the 13th and 16th centuries, with a stoneware stonework structure and wooden panels. Its basement houses a cellar, a press and a leaf attic, reflecting its original use related to viticulture. The façade features a full-walled door with tailor symbols, and a triplet window on the floor.

The house was reportedly rebuilt in 1563 for the tailor Friedrich Seybolt, as indicated by a date and initials engraved on a window, as well as an emblem on the door. It is backed by the medieval wall of Riquewihr, including a 13th century tower called the Thiefs. A dependency, in return on the house, leans on the north wall of the enclosure and communicates with a 13th-XIVth century building body, once used as a passage to the tower. Today, the house houses a torture museum and retains the typical interior distribution of a winemaker's house.

The building illustrates the Alsatian architectural evolution, combining domestic, artisanal (cutler) and winemaking functions. Its interior staircase, fireplaces and ground openings bear witness to the artisanal know-how of the sixteenth and thirteenth centuries. The dependence, partly made of wood, once housed a barn and a fenil, emphasizing the versatile character of these medieval and renaissant urban buildings. The house is now owned by the municipality of Riquewihr and is open to the public as part of the museum.

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