Along with the Tomi Ungerer Museum, Strasbourg's Alsatian Museum is one of my favorite cultural visits and museums in Strasbourg. It retraces the daily life in the Alsatian countryside in the 18th and 19th centuries, through numerous objects. The museum, created in 1907, was installed on the Quai Saint-Nicolas, in a typical 17th century building. With its creaky floor and low ceilings, it has a special charm.
Entire rooms reconstructed
You will pass from room to room through the staircases and corridors of a magnificent interior courtyard. You will be able to admire the traditional roofs covered with tiles, windows in “cul-de-bouteille” and, in summer, a splendid wisteria. What to get lost in time and space. The visit of the Alsatian Museum starts with the exhibition of the beautiful wall of a painted and half-timbered Alsatian house, coming from Issenhausen and dating from 1789. Then we discover the structure of a traditional house thanks to a model, several earthenware stoves and very well preserved painted wooden furniture.
Several “stubs”, the living room of the families, were reconstituted. Modest or rich interior, 17th or 19th century, country house or vineyard… They allow us to put ourselves in the place of the Alsatians of the time, to imagine their daily life. The most successful immersion, for my taste, is the stub of an old farm in Wintzenheim dated 1810.
You will also be immersed in a kitchen, a pharmacy-herbalist workshop and craft workshops. Rooms also dedicated to Alsatian clothing, costumes, festivals and traditions. The opportunity to get rid of preconceived ideas: and no, the Alsatian headdress of black color was not worn daily by all Alsatian women! They come in different shapes and colors depending on the region or even the village.
The rich collection of the Alsatian museum
All these old objects, gathered by themes (toys, ceramics, kitchen utensils, religious objects, jewels…) plunge us in another time. The visit ends with two rooms dedicated to the Alsatian wine world, with old barrels (very nice even if they are less impressive than those of the cellar of the civil hospices of Strasbourg ) and a huge wine press.
You can take the tour with a small booklet or an audio guide. And don’t forget to admire the view of the cathedral through some of the museum’s windows! If this visit has made you want to know more about the history of Strasbourg, the Strasbourg Historical Museum is just a few steps away.
I liked
- The beauty of the inner courtyard
- Immersion through workshops and reconstructed stubs
- The variety of objects presented
I liked less
- The museography could use a little bit of a facelift (Laurène’s opinion)
Practical information
Rates and schedules
You will find here the schedules and prices of the Alsatian Museum of Strasbourg.
Access
By car
The address is: 23-25 quai Saint-Nicolas, 67000 Strasbourg. Count approximately :
- 73 km from Colmar (about 1 hour)
- 114 km from Mulhouse (about 1h20)
By public transport
Tramway lines A and D (Porte de l’HĂ´pital stop)
Bus 10 (Corbeau stop), bus 30 (Saint-Guillaume stop) or bus 14 and 24 (Ancienne Douane stop)
Hungry?
If you are hungry, you will easily find a restaurant in our favorite restaurant addresses in Strasbourg.