The (, ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

'') is a municipal building in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

, eastern France, standing on Rue des Clefs. It was designated a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the French government in 1929.

History

The site was previously occupied by an old courthouse which belonged to the

Pairis Abbey Pairis Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Orbey in Haut-Rhin, Alsace, northeastern France. The surviving building serves today as a nursing home. The abbey was founded in 1138 by the Count of Eguisheim as a daughter house of Lucelle Abb ...

and dated back to the late 16th century. The monks acquired the property from the bailiff of

Ensisheim Ensisheim (; in Alsatian Ansa ()) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic origins of the village's name reflect the area's histo ...

, Jean-Jacques Reiss, in 1775, so that they could have it demolished and replaced by a new residence for their own use. Construction of the new building started in 1779. It was designed by Gabriel Ignace Ritter from

Guebwiller Guebwiller (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Gàwiller'' ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, département in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in brick with a

cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

and stone dressings, and was completed in 1782. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 13 bays facing onto Rue des Clefs. The central section of three bays featured a segmental headed opening with a rusticated surround and a keystone, flanked by two

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s with stone surrounds. On the first floor, there was a French door with a stone surround and an iron railing, flanked by two more casement windows with stone surrounds and, on the second floor, there were three casement windows also with stone surrounds. The bays in the central section were flanked by

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with carvings in the tympanum. The wings were fenestrated with casement windows in a similar style but with

shutters A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails (top, centre and bottom). Set within this frame can be louvers (both operable or fixed, horizontal or vertical), solid ...

. There were

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

windows at roof level. Following the suppression of the monasteries during the French Revolution, the building was seized by the state and, in 1800, it became the préfecture of Haut-Rhin, where it hosted visits by

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

in 1828, by

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

in 1831 and by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in 1850. Eventually the building was considered too small and the préfecture relocated to Rue Bruat in 1866. The local town council, which had been accommodated in a dilapidated building dating from 1525, acquired the former préfecture and converted it for municipal use as the local town hall. Following the liberation of the town by the French First Army, commanded by General

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French ''général d'armée'' during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. ...

, on 2 February 1945, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the prefect,

Jacques Fonlupt-Espéraber Jacques Fonlupt, known as Jacques Fonlupt-Espéraber, was a French politician, born on April 30, 1886, in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) and died on December 4, 1980, in Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Biography Jacques Fonlupt was the son of Antoine Fon ...

, and the mayor, Jacques Edouard Richard, addressed the crowd from the balcony of the town hall. A modern extension to the town hall, overlooking Place de la Marie, was completed in 1981.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Colmar Government buildings completed in 1782 City and town halls in France 1782 establishments in France Monuments historiques of Haut-Rhin