Maison des Têtes

The Maison des Têtes, the House of Heads, is one of the best-known buildings in Alsace, and it stands in Colmar. It is on the Rue des Têtes in the old centre of Colmar, a town about sixty kilometres south of Strasbourg that is famous for its half-timbered houses, its canals and its museums. The house is among the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the region and one of the most photographed buildings in the town.

It was built in 1609 for a wealthy wine merchant named Anton Burger, in the style of the German Renaissance that was popular in Alsace at the time, which blended Gothic traditions with ornament inspired by Italy. The facade is the reason for the name. It is covered with carved faces, masks and grotesque figures, more than a hundred of them, set around the windows and the stepped gable, with expressions ranging from the comic to the fierce, which were meant to show the owner's wealth and sense of humour and perhaps to ward off evil spirits. The high gable and the oriel window, which projects above the street, add to the effect, and the carving is rich in detail. At the top of the building stands a statue of a cooper holding a barrel, which was added in the early twentieth century and was made by the Colmar-born sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, who also designed the Statue of Liberty. The cooper is a reminder of the wine trade that enriched Burger and the town.

In the nineteenth century the building served as a guildhall and was used for commercial purposes, and later it was restored. Today it houses a boutique hotel and a restaurant, so the interior is not generally open to visitors as a museum, though guests of the hotel and the restaurant can see something of its character. Most people look at the facade from the street and take photographs, which costs nothing, and it is best seen in the morning or in the evening, when the light picks out the carving.

Colmar has several other highlights close by. The Unterlinden Museum, with the Isenheim Altarpiece, the Collégiale Saint-Martin, the Maison Pfister, with its painted facade, and the Petite Venise district, with its canals, are all within a short walk. The Christmas market in December is one of the most popular in Alsace.

The house suits architecture lovers, photographers and those who like quirky detail. A look from the street takes ten minutes.