Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Stern House, located at 28 rue de l'Etoile in Wissembourg (Bas-Rhin), is a rare specimen of late medieval civil architecture, dating from 1440-1450. This square building, characteristic of the cities of the Alsatian Decapole (union of imperial cities from 1354), combines a ground floor in pink sandstone and a wooden floor with corbelling. Its decorative assemblages (crossed guette posts, doronde tails) and its medieval structure make it a conservatory of 15th century constructive techniques. The house, opened on the Museum Street by a broken arched door decorated with a wooded shield, also preserves Gothic elements such as a door with trilobed motifs.

The complex consists of two buildings: a main house (2nd half of the 15th century) and an agricultural outbuilding remodeled in the 18th and 19th centuries, but keeping traces of the 16th century (millesimous door 1584). The medieval structure includes vaulted cellars, an ancient entrance passage, and sled windows preserved on the courtyard side. Originally, these buildings formed a single estate, owned in the 18th century by Canon Baehr, then acquired after the Revolution by the Boell family, still holding one of the houses. The building, classified as Historic Monument in 2008, bears witness to the urban prosperity of Wissembourg at the end of the Middle Ages.

Wissembourg, which was incorporated into the Decapole in 1354, has about 20 wood-paned houses from the 15th century, of which Stern House is one of the most elaborate examples. These constructions reflect the social organization of the time: wealthy bourgeois or clergy (such as Canon Baehr) owned these houses, often associated with artisanal or agricultural activities. The Stern House, with its marked corbellations and paved courtyard, illustrates this duality between urban habitat and economic functions. Its exterior staircase with balustrade (18th century) and subsequent changes show a continuous adaptation to the needs of the owners, while preserving medieval elements unique in Alsace.

The inscription in the Historical Monuments in 2008 protects all the two buildings, including their interior decoration (Gothic doors, original frame) and exterior (half-croup pinion, wood panel). The Stern house is distinguished by its tri-directional solving and third-wood assemblages, rare techniques preserved intact. The 1584 vintage on a door of dependency suggests extensions or renovations to the Renaissance, a period when Wissembourg, an imperial city, is experiencing a new economic boom. Today, this monument offers a material testimony of five centuries of Alsatian history, from medieval times to modern times.

External links