Accueil Contact Recherche Facebook You Tube Publications Plan du site

History & Heritage

Municipal Archives

History of the city

History of the abbey

Heritage

Walks in Munster

Personalities linked to Munster

Virtual Museum

For more information

History & Heritage > Heritage

City Hall

City Hall (ph. : S. Wernain)

Background

The City Hall of Munster was built in 1550 on land made available by the abbey. Called Herrenstube in the archives, the building serves as a meeting place for representatives of the community inhabitants of the Val Saint-Gregoire and the abbey.
Apart from council meetings, the hall served as the cabaret board members. A contract was binding on the rest of the cabaret ("Stubenwirth") to the city.
On 25 July 1789 the City Council is taken over by the inhabitants of the vast valley.
The Town Hall is the seat of the board and the administration of the former community of the valley and the city of Munster until 1847, years during which the community ceased to exist.
It was heavily damaged during the First World War.

Description

Exterior

The Renaissance-style facade was classified a historical monument on January 16, 1928.
Above the door, the arms of the city and the former inhabitants, attested from 1287, recalled that the origin of the city is a close relationship with the former Benedictine abbey ( 660-1791).
Under the gable is the eagle bicephalous deploying its wings. He is the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire which was part Munster for over six centuries.

Coat of arms of the City (ph. : S. W.)

Eagle bicephalous (ph. : S. W.)

Interior

Element of a funerary monument (ph.: S. W.)

The interior of City Hall was completely resurfaced after 1918.
In the lobby, a few vestiges of the old stone abbey are exposed.
Among the notable pieces, there is a sculpture of the twelfth century from the choir of the old abbey church and discovered in 1967 during the construction of the Caisse d'Epargne of Munster. It represents perhaps the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian or the Flagellation of Christ or the angel symbol of the apostle Saint Mathieu (ISMH 1997).

The large stone is leaning on the wall is part of a funerary monument also discovered in 1967. It bears the coat of arms talks (in the form of water lily leaves) Father Jean Rodolphe von Laubgass, which had laid the foundations of the new choir of the church in 1479. (I. S. M. H. 1997).

In the room Lazare Schwendi (1522-1583) there are two tables showing Charles Rohn Munster in 1838 and two paintings by Henri Bonaventure and Lebert, painters munstériens, presenting the views of Munster in 1799 and 1809.

On the first floor is a reproduction plaster the mausoleum of Dom Augustin Calmet to Senones from Saint Dié. Dom Calmet (1672-1757), the great historian of Lorraine, was a novice Munster of 1690 to 1696, then Deputy Prior of 1704 to 1706. He wrote a history of the abbey in 1704.
A wooden sign is a small owl Duke (or owl) accosted by two other birds. It comes from the old abbey church of Munster (XVII-XVIII century).

Painting by Gustave Doré (ph.: S. W.)

The magnificent hall meetings, "Hall of the Decapolis", is decorated with beautiful columns dating back to 1550 and stained glass representing the arms of the cities of the Decapolis and Strasbourg, and a number of noble families. The stained glass windows dating from 1930 except those of Landau and Mulhouse, added in 1993.
Two tables of a Flemish master anonymous eighteenth century decorate the room and a wonderful array of great romantic painter and illustrator Gustave Doré (1832-1883), born in Strasbourg, entitled "The valley of Munster."
The first two were donated by Mrs. White, wife of Chief Manufactures Hartmann et Fils, Louis Joseph White, who died in 1952, the third is a gift of André Wetzel (1890-1976) in 1968, founder of the Corporation 'History of Munster in 1926.

The hall of the Decapolis, dating back to the sixteenth century communicates with a wing back to square, built in the eighteenth century, in this case with the Mayor's office where you can admire a "family tree" administrative mayors who exercised their mandate since the Revolution of 1789.