Museums

One of the largest firefighters’ museums in France. It resumes, completes, modernizes and above all presents in its premises the prestigious collection that formed the basis of the Mulhouse Firefighters’ Museum and was presented within the framework of the Mulhouse Railway museum from 1978 to 2003.

Two halls (1,100 and 1,200 m2) with display cases, an audio-visual room, a shop, a library... gear wheels, a hundred pieces of equipment (hardware, clothing, unusual objects, etc), a complete telephone exchange, public fire alarms and so on.

Set up in the former dairy, this recent Museum, the tiniest in the world, is specialized in postcards. It already owns an exhaustive collection of over 17,000 postcards, some of them over 100 years old, thus preserving the heritage of some 70 villages in Sundgau, near the Swiss border. Researchers can thus study country life or the history of the postcard. A room is devoted to Patrick Hamm, a postcard illustrator from Strasbourg. The Museum organizes temporary exhibitions: for Easter 2002 the theme was class-photos and classrooms. A typical pre-war classroom had been reconstituted. The visitors reminisced about the times when smocks and white socks were mandatory.

The district of Huningue and its numerous communities are represented in the Museum, as well as the Rhine River and its bridges. Since September 1979, the Museum has been installed in a 17th century building, called “casino”, recently rehabilitated by the City. Located near the former Place d'Armes (parade ground), nowadays Place Abbatucci, it used to house the Quartermaster's office and the department of fortifications. On display: models, layouts, engravings, portraits, letters of patent relating the history of the fortress, its three sieges and its defenders. Other documents are related to the events of the Revolution, the garrison town and the industrial city as well as episodes of the two World Wars.

This Museum, founded by E. Bilger, a priest, is set up in a 16th century house, subsequently altered. It focuses on country life late 19th century and early 20th century. The exhibits on the ground floor include a “Chachelofe” (an earthenware stove), oil lamps, locks, religious accessories, specimens of embroidery made by young girls, irons, clothes, stone prehistoric tools from the neighborhood and the finds from excavations conducted near the old St. Martin's church. The kitchen is furnished with utensils. The scullery was used for making bread and washing clothes. In another room, there is a “Chunscht” (a bench covered with ceramic tiles) which was kept warm by the hot air recuperated from the kitchen stove. In the five rooms on the first floor, the visitor can see earthenware tiles, objects related to milk and flour (butter prints, cake and kougelhopf molds, measures for grain…). Don't forget to look at the “Herrgottswinkel” (God's corner) in the bedroom. The partly exposed walls show the half-timbering. The barn contains the blacksmith's, the wheelwright's and the saddler's workwhops. The Museum has many other valuable items in store.

The Sundgauvian Museum is an excellent introduction to the diverse landscapes of this scenic region located in South Alsace (Sund-Gau = Southern region). The headwaters of the Ill River are there. The river flows through a region full of streams, ponds and woods, stretching between the Swiss border and the cities of Basel, Mulhouse and Belfort.
The Museum is housed in a beautiful Renaissance mansion, the former bailiffs' residence. It presents the region's history, life, traditions and artists. The collections feature:
- Mineralogy, fossils, Prehistory, Paleontology (cut stones from Oberlarg, pottery (Linear Band Pottery - Neolithic II)...
- Gallo-Roman and Merovingian artifacts. The local history, geography and traditions are represented by numerous documents and significant objects: portraits, furniture, a Rhenish Renaissance cupboard, polychrome wedding cupboards, earthenware stoves (Kunst) and various dishes, pots and pans.
- A room is devoted to the local costumes, lingerie and hats.
- The Fine Arts department exhibits remarkable paintings by J.J. Henner, L. Lehmann, A. Zwiller, J. Benner, A. Schachenmann, R. Breitwieser as well as sculptures by F. Voulot and antique statues.

The CRAC is a place of research and experimentation and its main mission is to introduce contemporary art to a wide public. It stages temporary and travelling exhibitions, workshops for chidren, seminars for teenagers and numerous cultural events. Free entry, guided tours on request.
All year round :

Tuesday to Sunday : 2pm - 6pm

The Three countries museum in Lörrach in Germany features a permanent exhibition on the history and culture of the 3 Countries Region: Germany, Switzerland, France or more precisely the Canton of Basel, the Baden area and Alsace.