musee d'unterlinden (under the linden trees)

This museum was wonderful and the audio guide in the Dominican church was very informative (and free with admission). But, it will be closed as of 16/02/2015 until 11/2015.

Wow, what a find. This museum is small and intimate, Great art and collections. From period rooms to china. Take my word go see.

What a historic place, take your time and see the past,furniture , pictures, paintings, audio , uniforms, weapons

Do not miss a true work of genius -- the Isenheim Alterpiece -- by Matthias Grunevald. While currently, and temporarily relocated from the Unterlinden Museum, while the museum is undergoing renovation. The Alterpiece is currently located at the Dominican Church, a short walk from the Unterlinden.

It was a manageable size of exhibits to look through. Liked the audio guide which was very thorough and useful

The museum is fairly small and the museography is rather poor. Most tourist will like to see the Isenheim Altarpiece but this is located in a church a block away. You need the Museum ticket to get it. I loved the old advertising signs from shops dating from the 18th century

Indeed a pleasure to visit this museum with the breathtaking altarpiece. Details of info provided through the audio media.

This is worth a visit if only to admire the Alterpiece. As a religious artifact it is amazing, as a work of art it is a masterpiece. Try to get a local guide to help you appreciate this work.

The exhibits have strong connections with Colmar rather than being the slightly haphazard collection that some smaller local museums have. At the moment the altarpiece is located elsewhere as they are renovating the museum. When you do visit it you need to look at the little mock-ups first to get a clear understanding of what you are looking at.

We went to both the main museum, which is under construction, and the Dominican church which houses the most famous part of the collection, the Issenheim altar pieces. The main building, what we were able to see of it, was architecturally interesting as it's a former monastery (?) with a peaceful cloister. However, as others have noted, and as we knew, a lot of it was closed off for long-term construction. The material in the other building, the church, was very nicely laid out and presented, with good lighting and informative narrative in French, English and German. One problem at the church: no rest room facilities. We were told we'd have to go back to the main building, which was several minutes walk away, or go to a nearby cafe, which we did. Could have re-entered with our ticket, but just decided to end the visit at that point as we'd seen pretyt much all we wanted to.

The Isenheim Alterpiece was the purpose of our visit to Colmar and we certainly were not disappointed. The work by Matthias Gothart Nithart (or Grunewald) is startling in its expressionism - a piece unique for its time. The Christ droops from the cross, his body torn by thorns, his lips purple, his toes black. His Mother, Mary wears white and faints, white faced, in the arms of John whose enlarged arm encircles her in support. John the Baptist stretches out towards the stricken man, a figure not usually included in the Passion. Mary Magdalene is the embodiment of horror, despair and desperation, her hands outstretched in total grief. Grunewald has used the technique of elongating figures to achieve dramatic effect, also used later by El Greco in Toledo. As a viewer I am drawn in to the drama, I feel the pain, I am intensely moved. The alterpiece would have been standing high in the Monastery and viewers would have been on a level with Christ's black toe - they would have been very aware of his pain as a man. They would have longed for the day when the panels were opened and the inside panels revealed the promised glory of the hereafter.A hint - go early, before the coach tours - collect an audio guide and grab a seat on the bench in front of this wonderful work of art. Then listen twice through to the guide and breathe this work of art.

I generally like museums but was not overly impressed by this place, with one exception, and that is the painted Isenheim Altarspiece. I think the problem was the the museum was undergoing a renovation during our visit to Colmar and many of the rooms were closed off, so some of the things we thought we would see were not available for viewing. The Altarspiece itself had been moved to the Dominican Church nearby so it could be seen in all its genuine splendor. We bought a ticket for the Unterlinden, then walked to the Dominican Church and, using the same ticket, saw the Altarspiece. This in itself is worth the price of admission: it's pretty spectacular, and the other items in the Dominican Church were worthwhile. We went back to the Unterlinden and wandered around a bit but were not overly impressed. So at least until the renovation is done, be sure to see the Altarspiece but the Unterlinden itself is somewhat optional in my opinion.

If was strange to see a Church and some if it's contents turned into a museum. Although thus us not unusual if seems job Alsacem as the train station is also a former Church, obvious by the stained glass windows, and the statues to bless one on ones journey.

This museum had a lot of art and different historic pieces. It was well worth the time spent there. They had a great display of Christian art and altar pieces from the area.

A lovely, peaceful and atmospheric museum, with lots of interesting things to see. The collection is housed in the monastery/church and we spent a good 3 hours there.