Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 6 Rue des Juques in Bouxwiller is an emblematic building of Alsatian Renaissance architecture, built between 1591 and 1606. It consists of two separate houses: the South House, dated 1591, has an entrance door adorned with armored ecus (including those of the Freudenstein Gremp) and a front body added in 1598. The North House, dated 1606, has a wooden floor with carved decorations (full links, guettes, clossets). The two buildings, linked by a wing of commons, illustrate the high social status of their sponsors, probably Freudenstein's Gremp family, of which Christophe was baili of Bouxwiller from 1602 to 1634.

The building combines remarkable architectural elements: a sandstone ground floor with sled windows, a corbelled floor, and a stubble ceiling decorated with medallions and d'angelots. Later additions (inner staircase reported from Metz, panelling) and reshaping (wing of raised commons) testify to its evolution. The house, backed by the wall of the western enclosure of the city, also reflects the defensive urbanism of Bouxwiller in the Renaissance. Ranked a historic monument in 1930 for its facades and roofs, it retains traces of its residential use and its original prestige.

The arms of the Freudenstein Gremp (swan holding a ring on three mounds) appear twice on the house of 1591, confirming their connection to the monument. A pious inscription in German (Wer Gott vertrauet hat wohl gebauet) and a relief representing an angel holding shields underline the symbolic and family dimension of the home. Today divided into two properties, the house has undergone modifications (observation of sandstone crows on the courtyard side, remodeled dependence), but remains a major testimony of the Alsatian civil heritage of the late sixteenth century.

The historical context places Bouxwiller, then free imperial city associated with the German Empire, in a period of prosperity for the local elites. The Gremp of Freudenstein, the noble Alsatian family, embodies this wealthy bourgeoisie that invests in ostentatious urban residences. The architecture mixes here Germanic influences (woodpans) and Renaissance (sculpted decorations), typical of a region between French and German cultures. The partial preservation of the original elements (dated doors, stairs, ceilings) makes it a rare example of the aristocratic habitat of the time.

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