Explore Alsace and Lorraine
A large, sprawling, industrial city 35km south of Colmar, Mulhouse was Swiss until 1798 when, at the peak of its prosperity (founded on printed textiles), it voted to become part of France. Today it bills itself as a “museum town”, with at least four that might grab your interest. It’s much cheaper to stay here than in neighbouring Colmar (or Basel), plus it offers the best nightlife in Alsace should you find yourself there over a weekend. The Hôtel de Ville on the central Place de la Réunion contains a beautifully presented history of the city in the Musée Historique. The Neo-Gothic cathedral opposite the museum was built in 1866, replacing a twelfth-century church, yet its fourteenth-century stained glass is considered the most beautiful in the Upper Rhine; this is the only Protestant cathedral standing in a main square in France.
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Cité de l’Automobile, Musée National-Collection Schlumpf
Cité de l’Automobile, Musée National-Collection Schlumpf
A couple of tram stops north of Mulhouse’s city centre, the Cité de l’Automobile, Musée National-Collection Schlumpf, houses an overwhelming collection of over six hundred cars, originally belonging to local brothers Hans and Fritz Schlumpf, who made their fortunes running a nearby spinning mill. Lined up in endless rows, the impeccably preserved vehicles range from the industry’s earliest attempts, like the extraordinary wooden-wheeled Jacquot steam “car” of 1878, and the very first attempt at an environmentally friendly, solar-powered car made in 1942 to the 1968 Porsche racers. The highlights are the locally made Bugatti models: dozens of alluringly displayed, glorious racing cars, coupés and limousines, the pride of them being the two Bugatti Royales, out of only seven that were constructed. There’s also the most expensive Bugatti in the world today, priced at a cool €1.6 million.
