Chapelle Saint-Jean · Photo: M.Strīķis · CC BY-SA 3.0

35historic monuments

History of Mulhouse · Monuments historiques

35 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2005

The Culture ministry lists 35 historic monuments in Mulhouse: 5 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 30 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 13th century. That’s 3.3 for every 10,000 residents; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 31 of them.

5classé 2005protected area 13th c.oldest part 1893first protected

Monuments historiques

3.3 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5

Classé

the highest protection

Inscrit

the second level

Oldest part

13th c.

of any listed monument

Homes before 1919

9.5%

median compared town 7.4%

In pictures

Mulhouse in 31 photos

Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Cour des ChaînesClassé

Ancien hôtel de ville, actuellement Musée historiqueClassé

Anciennes fortificationsClassé

Temple réformé Saint-EtienneClassé

Ancienne maison MiegInscrit+26See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.

Protected area

Mulhouse has 2 protected historic areas

Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.

Area	Created as	Plan in force
SPR44-43	ZPPAUP April 1, 2005	ZPPAUP (heritage zone rules) April 1, 2005
SPR44-44	ZPPAUP January 14, 2009	ZPPAUP (heritage zone rules) January 14, 2009

A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.

The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.

Map

Where Mulhouse’s monuments stand

Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.

Classé is the higher protection: any work on the building needs the State’s permission. Work on an inscrit building must be declared to the State in advance. Around both, building work in sight of the monument (usually within 500 m) needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.

Points as the ministry gives them: a monument spread over several plots has one point. 15 monuments have no point on the map.

Classé

5 classé monuments in Mulhouse

Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 3 of the 5 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.

Monument · protected 1898Anciennes fortificationsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian K. · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Chapel · protected 1893Chapelle Saint-JeanPhoto: M.Strīķis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Town hall · protected 1929Ancien hôtel de ville, actuellement Musée historiquePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Wladyslaw · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1981Cour des ChaînesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Temple · protected 1995Temple réformé Saint-EtiennePhoto: Mahé Petit Garçon Curieux · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Inscrit

30 inscrit monuments in Mulhouse

Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.

All 30, A to Z

2 more, named only by their kind

2 more are named in the list only by their kind: 1 building (immeuble) and 1 other, most from the 19th century. The 2 with an address are in the list above, by it.

See all 35 on the map

What’s protected

Most of Mulhouse’s monuments are houses and homes

Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.

Houses & homes21

Religious buildings6

Public & civic4

Military & fortified1

Tombs & cemeteries1

Industrial1

Houses & homes: 21 of 35 monuments (60%). 6 are religious buildings, 2 of them classé.

Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 1 has no domain on the list.

How old

How old Mulhouse’s monuments are

Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.

Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0

Middle Ages 5th–15th c.3

16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution4

19th century 1801–190022

20th century and later since 19014

3 of 33 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Anciennes fortifications (13th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.

When protected

16 of Mulhouse’s monuments were protected in 1986

Monuments by the year they were first protected.

1986 · 16

18801900192019401960198020002020

First protected, in 1893: Chapelle Saint-Jean. 16 were protected in 1986 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.

Born before 1900

83 people born in Mulhouse before 1900

The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.

Jean-Henri Lambert

Jean Zuber

Godefroy Engelmann

Jean Dollfus

Charles-Frédéric Girard

Édouard Müller

Caroline de Maupeou

Emmanuel Benner

Jean Benner

Jules Siegfried

Jean Sandherr

Marie Hartig Kendall

Jacques Gross

André Weiss

Alfred Dreyfus

René Schützenberger

Georges Friedel

Pierre Weiss

Camille Bilger

Karl Kleist

170017501800185019001950

Jean-Henri Lambert1728–1777 · German mathematician, physicist and astronomer

Jean Zuber1773–1852 · French businessperson

Godefroy Engelmann1788–1839 · French-German lithographer

Jean Dollfus1800–1888 · French industrialist

Charles-Frédéric Girard1822–1895 · French zoologist

ÉM

Édouard Müller1823–1876 · painter

Caroline de Maupeou1836–1915 · French painter

Emmanuel Benner1836–1896 · French painter

Everyone born in Mulhouse Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.

Neighbors

Historic monuments in the towns around Mulhouse

Town	Residents	Monuments	Classé	Protected area
Mulhouse	104,978	35	5	Yes
Pfastatt	10,314	0	0	—
Riedisheim	12,200	0	0	—
Illzach	14,923	0	0	—
Brunstatt-Didenheim	8,259	0	0	—
Lutterbach	6,851	0	0	—
Kingersheim	13,354	0	0	—

In brief

Mulhouse in brief

The official list counts 35 historic monuments in Mulhouse, 5 of them classé, including Chapelle Saint-Jean. Its classé monuments cluster together: 4 of them stand within 400 m of Temple réformé Saint-Etienne. Parts of it lie in 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first protected in 2005. Most entries on the list, 60%, are houses and homes.

Of the 33 with a date, 22 come from the 19th century. The oldest is Anciennes fortifications, from the 13th century. Immeuble dit Bâtiment annulaire carries the Architecture contemporaine remarquable label. The rest is about typical: it has 35 historic monuments, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 29); per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns; and 9.5% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

Monuments historiques. France protects buildings at two levels. Classé, the higher (about a third of the list), means any work needs the State’s permission; inscrit means work must be declared to the State in advance. The Culture ministry’s Mérimée base lists every protected building, and this page counts them.
Partly protected. Many entries protect part of a building only (its façades and roofs, a staircase, a painted room). Each counts as one monument, like a fully protected one.
Where a monument is counted. In the commune named on its protection, moved to today’s commune where communes have since merged. A monument listed for several communes counts in each.
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables. Since 2016 France’s protected historic areas (the former secteurs sauvegardés, ZPPAUP and AVAP) share one name. Inside one, building work follows the area’s plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
What isn’t here. Protected objects (furniture, organs, paintings), old buildings with no protection, UNESCO World Heritage listings and labels such as “Plus Beaux Villages de France” aren’t on this list, so this page doesn’t count them.
No History Grade yet. Everything on this page is described, not graded: France’s History Grade isn’t built yet.

Questions about the history of Mulhouse

How many historic monuments are there in Mulhouse?

The Culture ministry lists 35 historic monuments in Mulhouse: 5 classé and 30 inscrit.

Which monuments in Mulhouse are classé?

5, among them Anciennes fortifications, Chapelle Saint-Jean, Ancien hôtel de ville, actuellement Musée historique, Cour des Chaînes and Temple réformé Saint-Etienne.

How old are the monuments of Mulhouse?

The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 13th century.

Is Mulhouse a protected historic area?

Yes: Mulhouse has 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first since 2005.

When were monuments in Mulhouse first protected?

The first in 1893, the latest in 2015.

How old are the homes in Mulhouse?

9.5% of its main homes were built before 1919 (median compared French town: 7.4%).

France has no History Grade yet: this page describes, it doesn’t grade.

Sources: Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée base on POP (immeubles protégés au titre des monuments historiques), October 2026 · Ministère de la Culture, sites patrimoniaux remarquables, October 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (main homes by build period) · Wikidata and Wikipedia (people born here) · Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata (photos of the monuments, each with its own credit and license) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).

Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.