Unterlinden Museum

You’re now between the two buildings housing the Unterlinden Museum, the most famous one in Colmar. It’s a Museum of Fine Arts and one of the most visited in France. It’s spread across two buildings; the one on your left is a former 13th-century convent. It was a women’s monastery for Dominican nuns, as well as an artistic and spiritual center. After the French Revolution, the building became city property and was converted into barracks before being abandoned. Fortunately, it was saved from demolition by Louis Hugot, an archivist from Strasbourg, who founded the Martin Schongauer Society in 1847, in honor of this great Colmar painter and engraver. Through this society, he set up a print room and an art school, and suggested opening a museum in the former monastery to display the works to the general public. His plan met with success, and the museum opened its doors in 1853. Since then, it has housed a Gallo-Roman mosaic found in a nearby village -one of the greatest discoveries of the late 19th century- as well as the Issenheim Altarpiece, a 16th-century masterpiece of Western painting. The museum was later expanded, and today encompasses the former convent on your left, the newly built wings and the buildings on your right, which once housed the public baths. These buildings also house the city’s Tourist Office. If you choose to visit the Unterlinden Museum, you’ll get to discover rich collections, from archaeological finds and decorative arts to modern and contemporary pieces, spanning over 7,000 years of history. Step inside and prepare for an incredible journey through time!