House of the Tanners (Maison des Tanneurs)

The Maison des Tanneurs, the House of the Tanners, is one of the most photographed buildings in Colmar. It stands in the old tanners' quarter, close to the river Lauch and the canals of Little Venice, on a street that was once lined with workshops where hides were cured and leather was made. It is a tall half-timbered building of the late sixteenth century, and a date of 1572 is often cited for it, and with its steep roof, its several storeys and its open lofts, it shows what the buildings of the tanners' trade looked like in the Renaissance.

The form of the house follows its function. Tanning was a smelly and messy craft, and the tanners were generally settled along a stream, where they could use plenty of water to wash and soak the hides, and away from the centre of the town. After the hides had been treated in pits with tannin from oak bark, they were hung to dry in airy lofts under the roof. The tall houses of the quarter therefore have several levels of lofts under their steep roofs, with open galleries or shuttered openings on the upper floors that let the air circulate, which gives them their characteristic outline. The roofs are pitched high and covered with tiles, and the walls below are of timber and plaster, with beams carved or painted in dark tones against the pale infill. The result is a building that looks decorative but is entirely practical.

Colmar's tanners were a guild with their own rules and privileges, and the district was one of several trade quarters that grew along the Lauch, including the fishermen's quarter and the market gardeners' quarter, the Krutenau. The guild houses, with their emblems, were a mark of the pride of the craft. Walking along the Rue des Tanneurs, you see houses of different dates, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, leaning on each other, and the flowers in the window boxes, particularly the red geraniums in summer, give the street its colour. A few carved masks and decorative details can be spotted on the façades. The house is a private building, so visitors see it from the street. The exterior can be admired at any time, free of charge, and the best light is in the morning.

The house stands in a walkable area. A few minutes from it, the canals of Little Venice, with the boats that glide along the Lauch, the Quai de la Poissonnerie and the Maison Pfister are in the same quarter, and the Collégiale Saint-Martin and the Unterlinden Museum, with the great Isenheim Altarpiece, are a short walk away. The Colmar covered market, near the river, is a good place for lunch. Colmar is especially popular during the Christmas market, in the weeks before Christmas, and in summer, so early mornings are quieter.

The house suits photographers, architecture lovers and visitors who like to wander through old streets.