2026-05-18 Colmar Museums

 May 18, 2026

We've decided we need a lazy morning since we're tired from having so much fun (old people style). Judy accompanied Dave to the boulangerie for our normal order of croissants and the two of them also brought home a kugelhopf. This is a typical Alsatian cake, baked in a pan like a bundt pan. But it is more like a bread than a cake. Our Kugelhopf had almonds on the top of each flute and raisins in the bread. Sometimes kugelhopf has powdered sugar sprinkled on after baking. And, as is usual with German or Alsatian breads, it is not very sweet (as is the case with most German desserts).

Our Kugelhopf - we only ate 1/4 of it for breakfast.

After breakfast, we did some laundry and tidied up a bit. Chris, Ron, and Mad arrive tomorrow.

dining room

guest bathroom

guest bedroom

The weather is iffy, so after lunch we went to Colmar to visit a couple of museums. The first was the Hansi museum (and store). Jean-Jacques Waltz (1873-1951), known simply as Hansi, was born and raised in Colmar. 

The Hansi museum - Colmar

Monsieur Hansi welcomes his friends and visitors and asks them not to call him "Master". That annoys him.

It was a turbulent time in the history of Alsace. After the Franco-Prussian war ended in 1871, Alsace was annexed to Bismarck's German Empire. In WWI, Alsatians were drafted to fight for Germany. Alsace was given to France at the end of WWI, was occupied by Germany in WWII and returned to France in 1945. 130,000 Alsatian men were conscripted to fight for Germany on the Eastern front. 

Hansi was a talented watercolorist and painted many Alsatian scenes in his early career. As he became more political, his artwork became more cartoonish. He published books extolling Alsatian life and he wrote and painted items that the Germans didn't like. He paid fines and spent time in prison, yet continued his artwork. At the same time, he wrote and illustrated children's books espousing the Alsatian way of life. 

Storks are an ever visible symbol of Alsace

Today some of the most iconic folk characters are popular all over Alsace. 

Wine, Kugelhof, & flowers to welcome home the French soldiers (Poilus -hairy- was a nickname given to French soldiers would let their hair and beards grow while in the military.)

Looking over the souvenirs available to purchase on the ground floor

We strolled our way through Colmar to get to our second museum. Along the way, we visited Colmar's downtown churches

cafes filled with diners along Colmar's main street

We returned to the Unterlinden museum to view their collection of 20th-21st century art. But first we had to take Judy to see the Issenheim altar piece. 

The Issenheim altarpiece seen from a new angle.

In the modern art section, the most impressive (to me) was a full-size weaving of Picasso's Guernica, created at the behest of Picasso. Beyond that, I did not find much to linger over. Abstract art and modern art is not my cup of tea, so I did not give this part of the museum the time and attention it probably deserved. 

Guernica weaving in Unterlinden Museum, Colmar

Judy standing in front gives you a size perspective

This stuff I don't get. But then, there are lots of things I don't get.

Another full day in the books (and finally recorded -sorry for the weeklong delay)