House à Bruebach dans le Haut-Rhin

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 8 Landser Street in Bruebach (High Rhine) is a remarkable example of Alsatian civil architecture from the 16th-17th centuries. Partly dated from 1574 by an internal inscription, it was redesigned at the beginning of the seventeenth century, as evidenced by decorative elements such as the front of the entrance door, adorned with the 1620 vintage. This building, rectangular, is distinguished by its besace-shaped chains, its two-paned roof, and a gable-on-street façade, which is pierced with sled windows decorated with volutes. The front door, framed with pilasters and surmounted by a carved pediment (angelots, agricultural coats and winemakers), reflects the influence of Renaissance motifs adapted to the local context.

The building has undergone modifications over the centuries, including the recent suppression of its basement and its semi-croupes, potentially non-original. A back door, dated 1600 from another building, was re-used. The house is considered the oldest in the village, with a wooden structure dated 1574. Ranked a historical monument in 1986 (inscription of facades), it illustrates the Alsatian vernacular heritage, combining residential functions and symbols related to agricultural and wine activities, central to the local economy of the period.

The architectural decoration, including emblems of winemakers and farmers, underscores the social and economic role of the owners, probably from the rural bourgeoisie or from the land-related occupations. The pediment, with its human-headed sun and solar roulles, could evoke humanist or astrological symbols in vogue during the Renaissance. Despite the transformations, the house retains structural and ornamental elements bearing witness to the construction techniques and artistic tastes of Alsace at the hinge of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

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