Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department and of the subprefecture of the Colmar-Ribeauvillé arrondissement.
The city is renowned for its well-preserved old town, its numerous architectural landmarks and its museums, among which is the Unterlinden Museum, which houses the Isenheim Altarpiece.
Colmar is located on the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the capital of Alsatian wine ().
History
Colmar was first mentioned by Charlemagne in his chronicle about Saxon wars. This was the location where the Carolingian Emperor Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city by Emperor Frederick II in 1226. In 1354 it joined the Décapole city league. The city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1575, long after the northern neighbours of Strasbourg and Sélestat. During the Thirty Years' War, it was taken by the Swedish army in 1632, which held it for two years. In 1634, the Schoeman family arrived and started the first town library. In 1635, the city's harvest was spoiled by Imperialist forces while the residents shot at them from the walls.
The city was conquered by France under King Louis XIV in 1673 and officially ceded by the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen. In 1854 a cholera epidemic killed many in the city. With the rest of Alsace, Colmar was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War and incorporated into the Alsace-Lorraine province. It returned to France after World War I according to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945. Colmar has been continuously governed by conservative parties since 1947, the Popular Republican Movement (1947–1977), the Union for French Democracy (1977–1995) and the Union for a Popular Movement (since 1995), and has had only three mayors during that time.
The Colmar Treasure, a hoard of precious objects hidden by Jews during the Black Death, was discovered here in 1863.
Geography
Colmar is south-southwest of Strasbourg, at 48.08°N, 7.36°E, on the River Lauch, a tributary of the Ill. It is located immediately to the east of the Vosges and connected to the Rhine in the east by a canal.
In 2017 the city had a population of 69,105, and the metropolitan area of Colmar had a population of 199,234 in 2018. Colmar is the centre of the arrondissement of Colmar-Ribeauvillé, which had 211,312 inhabitants in 2017.
Climate
Colmar has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) but it is significantly modified by the city's location far inland, with cold, dry winters and warm to hot, wetter summers.
The city has a sunny microclimate and is one of the driest cities in France, with an annual precipitation of just , making it ideal for Alsace wine. It is considered the capital of the Alsatian wine region.
The dryness results from the town's location next to mountains, which forces clouds arriving from the west to rise and much of their moisture to condense and fall over the higher ground, leaving the air warmed and dried by the time it reaches Colmar.
The city therefore has more of a continental climate and winter and summer temperatures can sometimes be the lowest or highest in France.
Population
Main sights
Mostly spared from the destructions of the French Revolution and the wars of 1870–1871, 1914–1918 and 1939–1945, the cityscape of old-town Colmar is homogenous and renowned among tourists. An area that is crossed by canals of the river Lauch (which formerly served as the butcher's, tanner's and fishmonger's quarter) is now called "little Venice" ().
Architectural landmarks
Colmar's secular and religious architectural landmarks reflect eight centuries of Germanic and French architecture and the adaptation of their respective stylistic language to the local customs and building materials (pink and yellow Vosges sandstone, timber framing).