Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Wangen's mansion, located in Wilwisheim in the Lower Rhine, was built in the 3rd quarter of the 17th century (1669) by Jean-Louis Albert de Wangen, lord of the village since 1651. It probably replaced an older castle, with traces such as a ditch and an access bridge. The estate initially included a large park, ponds, and outbuildings organized around a courtyard, with a chapel at the east end. Together, typical of Alsatian seigneurial residences, mixed residential, agricultural and religious functions.

The manor house, which was listed as a historical monument in 2003, retains remarkable architectural elements: a sandstone portal surmounted by globes, a moulure cornice, and an interior staircase made of carved baluster oak. The outbuildings, partially renovated, housed a chapel adorned with a gate in the middle of the hangar and an oculus. At the Revolution, Wangen's family left, and the estate was sold to Mathias Étienne Picquart, a supplier of armies, and then to the Bois-David family (1826–70), who used the chapel with the permission of the bishop of Strasbourg.

In the 19th century, the mansion became a farm, undergoing transformations (partial demolition of outbuildings, sale of decorative elements like a fountain statue or the chapel bell). The interiors, once richly decorated (lambing, 18th century chimneys), have now disappeared. Despite its inscription, the building is in a worrying state of conservation, with partial ruins and a major loss of its original decor. The historic parcel, though small, retains the traces of the park and the original ponds.

Protected remains include the main house body, outbuilding facades, access bridge, north fence wall, and traces of the fountain. The site, a private property, illustrates the evolution of a rural seigneury in agriculture, reflecting the social and economic upheavals of Alsace between the 17th and 20th centuries.

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