Visit the Alsatian Museum (Musée Alsacien) to discover the proud traditions of the Alsace region. Over 5,000 artifacts are spread throughout 30 rooms of interconnecting timber-framed houses and depict the daily activities of people in this rural area in northeastern France.
The Alsace region has passed between the hands of the French and Germans several times. The Alsatian Museum serves to preserve and promote the unique customs that have developed over centuries with this unusual alternating national occupation.
A walk around the museum evokes the feeling of being inside an original home from the 18th or 19th century. The floors creak as you pass between the rooms and the staircases wobble as you climb to different levels.
Browse examples of ceramics, farming equipment, tableware, toys, woodwork and period furniture and clothing. Look out from the balconies and windows to a courtyard where ivy clings to the walls and wraps around wooden beams.
Re-creations give an authentic impression of how life once was in the region. See activities from the farmlands, the Vosges Mountains and the wine region. Glimpse inside a carpenter’s studio, a craftsman’s workshop and the factory of an alchemist and pharmacist. Other highlights are the replica of an Alsatian living room and a farmhouse from Wintzenheim.
Find the museum on the banks of the River Ill and at the eastern edge of Strasbourg’s Petite-France quarter. Public buses stop on the road outside the museum. Gare de Strasbourg train station is a 20-minute walk away. Visit several major city attractions located nearby. These include the Oeuvre Notre Dame Museum, Strasbourg Cathedral and Strasbourg Museum of Fine Arts.
The Alsatian Museum is open from Wednesday to Monday and has an admission fee. Single and multi-day passes are available, which grant entry to all Strasbourg museums. Admission is free to the city’s museums on the first Sunday of the month. Check the official website of Musées de Strasbourg for more information.