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Château d'eau
Château d'eau - Water tower near Neuf-Brisach.
DSC_0796 While Viking Sigrun remained at Breisach, there was an afternoon coach tour to Colmar across the border in France. Colmar is in the Alsace region of France. It is one of those cities that has been contested between France and Germany over time. Germany occupied Colmar and the surrounding territory in 1871–1918 and 1940–1945. The Rhine forms the border of France and Germany today, but with the advent of the EU, there are no border formalities.
The landscape upon entering Alsace is a flat plain with farms. In the distance rises the Vosges mountain range, comparable to the Kaiserstuhl across in Germany. I spotted a water tower rising from the farmland and thought how I love the French term for a water tower:
Château d'Eau (water castle).
The road to Colmar leads past Neuf-Brisach. Neuf-Brisach was founded in 1698 after Breisach was returned to the Holy Roman Empire. (As part of the complicated history and boundary shifts of this region, German Breisach had be occupied by France from 1639 to 1697.) Neuf-Brisach was meant to be a fortified city to defend Alsace against any incursion by the German states. The French military engineer Vauban designed the fortifications which can
La Place Forte de Neuf-Brisach
La place forte de Neuf-Brisach. After the French loss of Brisach (Breisach on the German side of the the Rhine) in 1697 following the Nine Years' War, construction of a new fortification in the plain of Alsace was deemed essential. Work on the octagonal star-system fort and city began in 1699. Provision was made for 4,000 inhabitants within the fortified city.
Part of the Fortifications of Vauban UNESCO World Heritage site. Inscribed in 2008. The works of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), military engineer of Louis XIV.
"Neu-Breisach, a small town (3500 inhab.) and fortress, constructed, by Vauban in 1703, and taken by the Germans in 1870, after a siege of eight days".--Baedeker 1911.
DSC_0803 be seen from the highway. The Vauban fortifications were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.
The entrance to Colmar traverses a series of roundabouts containing sculptures about the history of the city. In one stands a replica to the Statue of Liberty. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the statue, was a native of Colmar. In another roundabout is a red devil with a pitchfork. The sculpture commemorates Les diables rouges, a French infantry regiment that fought in World Wars I and II and is still active.
The coach let the group off at Place d'Unterlinden. (No coach parking in the city center.) From here, we had a walking tour of the old town with a local guide. At the square is a structure that appears to be a Gothic church. It was once a Dominican convent, but has been an art museum since 1853. A walk over to Rue des Têtes found two interesting structures. La Maison des Têtes is a Renaissance style townhouse built in 1609. Its name derives from the 106 sculptures of heads adorning its windows. At the very top is a 1902 pewter sculpture of a cooper (signifying Colmar's wine industry) by
Les Vosges
Landscape in Vosges range of Alsace.
DSC_0806 Bartholdi. Across the street is Aux Deux Frères with a colorful decorative sign designed by Hansi (Jean Jacques Walz), a Colmar artist and author. He is most famous for his illustration of an Alsatian girl ("La petite Alsacienne") wearing the traditional
Schlupfkapp headdress. Hansi was also a French Alsatian patriot during the period of German occupation and drew numerous illustrations mocking the Germans. The Musée Hansi is just up the street.
The narrow streets of the old town led to the Rue des Marchands, the Merchant's Street. Maison Pfister, dating to 1537 is a Colmar landmark. It is an architectural bridge, combining both Medieval and Renaissance features. The tiny Maison de la boîte à mouches (Fly Box), suspended between two houses, was a customs duty collection station. The Musée Bartholdi is in Rue des Marchands, occupying the house where the sculptor was born. The walking tour ended at Église Saint-Martin. While it is large and may look like a cathedral, it is not as Colmar has never been the seat of a bishop. With the tour over, Susan and I opted to look inside the church. The
Maison des Têtes
Maison des Têtes. Townhouse in the Renaissance style built in 1609 on behalf of the merchant Anton Burger. The building takes its name from the 105 grotesque busts decorating the façade. Adaptive reuse as a boutique hotel and restaurant. 19, rue des Têtes.
IMG_1066 church is Gothic, built in 1234-1365 of sandstone from the Vosges, and dedicated to St. Martin of Tours.
The return walk to Quai de la Sinn, the group meeting place, passed the Dominican Church. Quai de la Sinn is a pleasant square where the local Monoprix occupies a 1923 department store building. The Sinnbach canal flows through the square, now a picturesque watercourse rather than a navigable one. Once back on the coach, we returned to Breisach and Viking Sigrun passing again over the Grand Canal d'Alsace. A most interesting sight on the way back was spotting a 1930s concrete bunker of the Maginot Line. The 17th century fortifications of Neuf-Brisach and the 20th century Maginot Line were reminders of how often this visibly peaceful countryside has been at the forefront of so many conflicts between France and Gernmany over the centuries..
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Beautiful landscape
Nice photo.