The Architectural Heritage

 Architecture in Munster

ville de Munster

Munster used to be a fortified city till the beginning of the 19th century. The WW1 bombing destroyed most of the ancient buildings; some remain in Grand Rue, rue e Luttenbach, quartier de l’Emm. However the major part of the public buildings, such as the city hall dated 1550, the Laub hall (built in 1503 on the Marketplace, thenmoved to rue Saint-Grégoire in 1867) and the schools, survived. The urban landscape is marked too, with the presence of the ruins of the abbey, the palace by the marketplace (end of 18th century), a part of the cloister with arcades (end of 17thentury, currently housing the PNRBV). In the 1930-50s, stylish villas were built around the heart of the city (area Graben, Dubach and Moenchberg). Finally, near the entrance of the city, Albert Hartmann’s property was turned into a park, showing statues since the beginning of the 19th century (griffin bridge, sphinx, Neptune).

The civilian architecture of the villages: city hall and schools

Mairie de Stosswihr

Except Gunsbach which city hall was built in 1570, some villages still have the 19th century buildings. Their architects used a classical style, with sobriety: Eschbach-au-Val (1862, architect: V. Heilmann), Griesbach-au-Val (1868 school, architect: Ch. Geiger fils, 1842 city hall, architect: J.-B. Kühlmann), Luttenbach-près-Munster (1851-52, architect: V. Peigney). However, this type of architecture was used again for the renewal after WW1. The architects delivered historical-style buildings: medieval-like city hall in Stosswihr, with wodden gable (1923, architect: Ch. Schoffit), Renaissance-style for the city hall-school of Metzeral, with a tower staircase (1923-24, architects: Ch. Wolff - R. Voelckel), Baroque-style for the city hall of Muhlbach-sur-Munster, with scallop decorated pediment (1927-28, architect: Ch. Schoffit). The style that was in between the two wars can be seen in Soultzeren: city hall (1930-31, architect: E. Schneider) and school (1926, architect: Ch. Schoffit).

Rural architecture

The type of the farm not only depends on the activity, but also on the place you are in the Valley (the entrance, or uphill from Munster). Cultivated since the Middle-Ages, you can still find vineyard in Wihr-au-Val, Gunsbach and Soultzbach-les-Bains. The ground floor is used as a ventilated cellar, with other rooms to transform the grape. The living space stands on the first floor, accessible with a stone or wood staircase on the outside, or on the inside. Gunsbach has good examples of these farms, mostly built in stone, which are among the eldest of the district (16th to 19th century). In Soultzbach-les-Bains, the imposing winery houses sometimes show very decorative wood panels dated about 1700. In the Grande and Petite Vallée, the main activity is shephering, with some farming. The farm-house is different: the basement is made of stone and vaulted, to keep the cheese. The barn, workshop etc. stand on the side, sharing or not the roof, or put around an open courtyard. Some carved decoration can be seen on the corner panels (star shapes, or gobelets of religious inspiration). Most of these farms were built in the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century (Breitenbach, Hohrod, Luttenbach-près-Munster, Mittlach, Soultzeren). The numerous farms of the renewal are inspired from the older ones, with copying them. In addition to sandstone, you have grey granite and wrought iron decor in the Louis XVI style. Wihr-au-Val was the only village to be deeply damaged during WW2 (June 18, 1940), and would be brought up within a dozen years.

Summering architecture

Since the Middle-Ages, the cattle has been brought to mountain pastures from May to Septembre. These places are named “First” or “gazons”. If the summer farms used to be made of wood, the stone building replaces it during the 18th and 19th century. Their shape depends on the height. On the Petites Chaumes (550-900m), there are two separeted buildings: living space and cheese-making rooms on one side, barn and hayloft on the other side.aboce 900m,on the Hautes Chaumes, the Marcaire’s house (from the German word meaning “Milker”) accommodates men and beasts under the same roof. Mountain tourism that spread after 1870, pushed the Marcaires in offering food (Munster cheese, Barikaas…)and beverage to the visitors, creating the farm-inns.