The Kammerzell house – also called s'Kammerzellhüs in the
Strasbourg dialect – is a historic monument of the city of
Strasbourg, an archetype of the Alsatian half-timbered house of the
16th century, located at no. 16 Place de la Cathédrale. It takes its
name from Philippe-François Kammerzell, the last of its private
owners who sold it in 1879 to the foundation of the Œuvre
Notre-Dame.
The building has been registered as a historical
monument since June 13, 1929.
The construction of this house, opposite Notre-Dame cathedral, whose
half-timbering is among the most richly decorated in the city, dates
back to 1427. However, the building did not take on its final appearance
until 1589. Bought in 1571 by the famous cheese merchant Martin Braun,
the latter built above the ground floor in stone (the only vestige of
the 15th century house) the upper floors in wood in this very particular
Renaissance style. This sculpted wooden decor animating the facade,
pierced with windows with bottle-end glass, represents sacred and
profane scenes, medieval legends, the five senses, the four ages of
life, faith, hope and charity and finally, the signs of the zodiac. On
the facade, several important characters from history appear: Caesar,
Charlemagne, Hector and Godefroy de Bouillon. On the gable, we can still
see the pulley which was used to raise the reserves to the attic.
After passing through the hands of many owners, the building was
acquired in 1879 by the city of Strasbourg, through the foundation of
the Œuvre Notre-Dame. In 1892, a restoration partially modified the
appearance of its facades, notably adding polychrome paintings inspired
by the Rhenish style of the 16th century. The interior, housing a
restaurant, is decorated with a painting made in 1910 by Léo Schnugg
illustrating in particular a Strasbourg culinary anecdote from 1576.
Like the historic center of Strasbourg, it is part of the world heritage
of humanity.
It was from a restaurant, which in November 1938,
when the Alsatian Workers' and Peasants' Party favorable to Nazi Germany
was flourishing, welcomed the public with a sign "Hunden und Juden
verboten" ("Forbidden to dogs and Jews") come to listen to the
anti-parliamentarian Jean-Charles Legrand.
The house remains
today, with the cathedral, the oldest building in Strasbourg still in
use.
1427 - Hans Jœger, draper;
16th century - Stædel family: Christoph
I Stædel, goldsmith; Antoine Stædel, son of Christophe I Stædel; Florian
Stædel, son of Antoine Stædel, draper;
1571 - Martin Braun, cheese
merchant;
1604 - Robert Kœnigsmann, son-in-law of Martin Braun;
1671 - Jean Bernhardt, merchant;
17?? - François-Ignace Finck,
grocer;
1806 - Philippe-François Kammerzell, grocer;
since 1879
belongs to the foundation of the Œuvre Notre-Dame.