Colmar

From Strasbourg, the N 83 leads to Colmar. Old houses in the middle of small gardens, washing places by the river and narrow streets with picturesque corners - this is the charm of Colmar, a town from the end of the Middle Ages and the beginnings of the Renaissance. The Pfister house, the Kopfhüs and the house of the Chevaliers de Saint-Jean are particularly worthy of mention among the numerous half-timbered houses with their ornate bay windows and ornate gables. The Dominican church (13th century) houses Martin Schongauer's valuable painting "Maria am Rosenhang". The former Dominican convent of Unterlinden is now a museum. In the convent chapel, visitors will find Matthias Grünewald's masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. It was only at the end of the 20th century that new scientific methods made it possible to attribute this unique work of art to Matthias Grünewald. The artist created this work in the area around Colmar, in the Antonite monastery at Issenheim. The altarpiece can be divided into many hundreds of paintings, none of which resembles the others in theme and expression. The work is one of the most valuable art treasures in France. The museum also displays the remains of monasteries and churches that have now disappeared. A war cemetery for 863 German soldiers who died in the First World War has been laid out to the north of Colmar. It borders directly on the French national cemetery in Colmar. Three German war dead rest in the neighboring Israelite cemetery. The Linge Pass, around 25 kilometers from Colmar, was the scene of the heaviest fighting in 1915. The lines of the trenches can still be seen today. Excavated finds from the First World War are exhibited in a small museum on the Linge Pass. The nearby Hohrod-Bärenstall war cemetery is home to 2460 German soldiers who died in the First World War. You can also reach Colmar from Strasbourg via the Alsace Wine Route. The road winds its way through the vineyards on the edge of the first foothills of the Vosges and forms a link between the old picturesque wine villages. Each village has typical sights and special features (some villages are, for example: Wangen, Molsheim, Rosheim, Obernai, Mittelbergheim, Selestat, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr). The most beautiful parts of these villages are illuminated in the evening during the summer. Here, where the finest wines ripen in the vineyards, people live mainly from viticulture and tourism. At harvest time, from September to October, you will often find all the members of the family doing the sometimes arduous work in the vineyards.