COLMAR

. Located on the plain of Alsace near the foothills of the Vosges, Colmar (Haut-Rhin) dates back to at least the 13th century and possibly much earlier. Although the date of the first Christian settlement in the south of Alsace has not been attested, it is known that in 823 Benedictine monks of the abbey of Munster arrived, and they had founded a religious establishment west of the Harbourg by 865. A charter from the 10th century records a donation from Empress Adelaide for the foundation of the priory of Saint-Pierre. Among the many medieval buildings that have been preserved are the church of Saint-Martin, a cloister and chapel of a former Dominican monastery now incorporated in the Musee d’Unterlinden, a Franciscan house (now Saint-Matthieu), and a second church associated with the Dominicans.

The present Saint-Martin (1237-1366) replaced a 10th-century church. The transept was built first, followed by the nave, and then the choir near the end of the 14th century. The transept and nave seem to be the work of one architect, perhaps Master Humbert. In fact, on the south side a statue of Master Humbert with his square drawing-board adorns the portal of Saint-Nicolas. The nave comprises six bays, flanked by aisles on the north and south. The 14th-century octagonal choir by Guillaume de Marbourg features three bays, a series of interconnecting chapels, and an octagonal chevet and is surrounded by an ambulatory, unusual for Alsace. Four columns stationed at the crossing support 15th-century vaulting. Sculpted tympana, the Adoration of the Magi and the Last Judgment, rose windows, and windows with triple and double lancets adorn the fagades. Medieval scuplture on display includes a 13th-century and a 14th-century Virgin and Child, figures of the Apostles (14th c.), and Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John (14th c.).

To the northwest, the Musee d’Unterlinden incorporates the cloister and chapel of a former Dominican monastery. The chapel contains engravings by Martin Schongauer (ca. 1420-91); panels from the altar frontal of the Dominican church by the School of Schongauer (1480); the Bergheim predella (1460); a diptych of SS. Catherine and Laurence; and a statue of the Annunciation (15th c.). The basement contains, among the museum’s archaeological collection, a Gallo-Roman mosaic (3rd-4th c.).

A second Dominican church was built between 1283 and 1295. Damaged by fire in 1458 and subsequently used as a corn market, the church was completely restored in the late 19th century. The nave, with six bays, is almost square. One of the prominent features of the Dominican church is its stained-glass windows, which depict the life of Christ, the saints with their attributes, and Ulrich and Agnes von Heckenheim, founders of the monastery. In the cloister are frescoes of the Resurrection of Christ, attributed to Urbain Huter (15th c.).

Saint-Matthieu, once a Franciscan church, is located in the north part of Colmar and contains good 14 th and 15 th century glass and a 15th-century choir screen. Although its history reaches back to the 10th century, the present chapel of Saint-Pierre is the work of an 18th-century architect, J. J.Sarger of Colmar.

E. Kay Harris

Anstett, Peter. Das Martinsmunster zu Colmar: Beitrag zur Geschichte des gotischen Kirchenbaus im Elsass. Berlin: Mann, 1966.

Herzog, Emile. Colmar: guide historique et artistique. Colmar: Hartmann, 1932.