Tourist attraction
Place de l'Ancienne Douane
Gothic customs hall and courtroom above, oldest public building in the city, topped by a steep glazed-tile roof.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Place de l'Ancienne Douane, the Koifhus, in Colmar traces the double life of the city's oldest public building: a customs house taxing merchants' goods below, and above it, the hall where deputies of the Decapole, the alliance of ten free Alsatian cities founded in thirteen fifty-four, settled disputes under the emperor's own bailiff. You'll hear how one roof held two kinds of judgment, a trader's fudged tally and a city accused of breaking faith. Worth pausing to look up at the steep, glazed-tile roof before stepping inside.
This audio guide was created using AI.