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Origin and history

The Sundgauvian Museum is a museum of France located in Altkirch (Haut-Rhin), in the historical region of Sundgau, south of Alsace. Installed since 1952 in the former house of the Baill, a 16th century building classified as a historical monument, it owes its origin to a collection of Celtic axes initiated in 1874. Founded in 1877 by Gustave Kubler, his first curator, the museum now gathers archaeological objects, works of art (including portraits by Jean-Jacques Henner), and testimonies of local traditions.

The former seigneurial building, dating from the second half of the 16th century, is distinguished by its Renaissance facade decorated with triplet windows and a polygonal turret with a screw staircase. Listed at the Historic Monuments in 1986 for its facades, roofs and decorative elements (garde-corps in wrought iron, carved chambranles), it was acquired by the city in 1952. Some internal changes date back to this period, while later openings were redone in the 19th century.

The collections cover four main areas: archaeology (prehistoric tools, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian objects), fine arts (paintings by Lehmann, Zwiller, Benner, and sculptures by Carpeaux or Voulot), popular arts and traditions (Sundgauvian furniture, embroidered costumes), and modern history (reconstitutions of the two world wars). A room is entirely dedicated to Jean-Jacques Henner, major Alsatian artist, with portraits, watercolours and a Christ to donors from the church of Bernwiller.

The museum also organizes temporary exhibitions, such as rural pharmacy and city pharmacy in 2012. Its territorial anchor is reflected in local publications, such as The Sundgauvian Museum in Altkirch (1874-1926) by Maurice Higelin or Looking at the Sundgau (1987), co-written by members of the Friends of the Sundgauvian Museum.

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