Maison Kammerzell

The Maison Kammerzell stands at 16 Place de la Cathédrale, facing the west front of Strasbourg Cathedral on the Grande Île, in the Grand Est region of France. The oldest part, the stone ground floor, dates from 1427, when the house was built for a merchant family. The upper storeys of timber were added in 1589 by the cheese merchant Martin Braun, who wished to display his wealth in the Renaissance style. The house takes its name from Léopold Kammerzell, a grocer who bought it in 1879. It is one of the finest examples of civic architecture in Alsace and is regarded as the best-preserved late-medieval and Renaissance house in the city. The facade is covered in carved oak: the six storeys of overhanging windows are decorated with sculpted figures from the Bible, mythology and history, and the beams carry scenes, allegories and figures that represent the senses, the ages of man and classical heroes. The ground-floor windows are of leaded glass in the Gothic manner. The house was restored in the early 20th century with painted interiors, carved panelling and decorative ceilings by the artist Léo Schnug, and the building survived the 1944 bombing that damaged much of the area. It now contains a well-known restaurant and a hotel, so the interior can be seen by dining there, while the exterior is free to view at any time from the square. The contrast between its rich timber carvings and the sandstone cathedral next door makes it one of the most photographed buildings in Strasbourg and a useful illustration of how merchant wealth shaped the city. Its construction in two phases, a stone base for storage and trade and a timber superstructure for living quarters, is typical of the town houses of the Upper Rhine. Visitors who look closely can see how the carved panels and brackets were intended to advertise the status of the owner to those entering the cathedral square.