Tom`s travels: Mulhouse (15/02/2019)

After having received an email by our university coordinator in Strasbourg who announced we would have a small ceremony where we would receive our diplomas, we booked our flight tickets to the Euroairport. Once there we had some time before heading to Strasbourg so we decided to visit the nearby town of Mulhouse which I didn't have a chance to see while studying in the area two years before. So after a short bus ride, we reached the city and then headed on foot towards the city center. We arrived at the city's central square, Place de la Reunion, where the church of Saint-Etienne and the town hall are located together with other interesting buildings around its perimeter. After walking through the square we continued along a large central street and reached the northern edge of the old town where the Bollwerk, the only remains of what used to be the medieval walls encircling the city center. After coming back again to the main square we tried to enter the main church, St Etienne, built at the end of the 19th century in the Neogothic style, but found it unfortunately closed. We then headed inside the old town hall where we found out we could visit the small museum for free. The town hall, built in 1553 in the Rhenish Renaissance style, features a nice red exterior decorated with figures and allegories. Once inside we walked through the rooms which contained objects from the middle ages up to the modern times and relating to the city and its surroundings. A room was dedicated to paintings of the city, another to archaeological remains found in the area, and yet another with daily objects of alsatian residents. Particularly nice was the renaissance room which was used by the city council during the city's history and decorated with coat of arms most of which had german names due to the fact that the city, together with the rest of the region, was once part of the German lands. After visiting the nice town hall we went out into the street and continued a little until we reached the Musee des Beaux-Arts. The entrance was free on that day which meant a nice unexpected surprise. As we toured its rooms we admired art from the middle ages up to the contemporary period. Most artists were french but there was even a nice painting by Brueghel the Younger. After seeing the great art inside the museum we headed back to the main square where we sat, together with many other people, on the church's steps while enjoying a bit of sun before finally heading to the bus station to catch our bus in the direction of Strasbourg.