Walls never demolished
Most Alsatian towns razed theirs in the nineteenth century — Turckheim did not.
A medieval gate tower in the small walled town of Turckheim west of Colmar, known in German as the Obertor, the upper gate, and one of three surviving gates of the town wall. Turckheim deserves more explanation than the gate. A wine town of under four thousand people on the Alsace Wine Route, it kept its walls and all three gates almost intact — which is rare, since most towns in the region demolished their walls in the nineteenth century. The three gates close the old town in on itself, and inside are coloured timber-framed houses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The tradition it is known for is the night watchman. Every evening in the warm season a man in a cloak and wide-brimmed hat sets out with a lantern and a horn and walks the town's streets singing in Alsatian, as night watchmen did centuries ago to warn the residents of fire and thieves. It is a heritage performance, certainly, but among the few that have run without interruption. The name reflects Alsace's double history: a gate French in name and German in stone, in a region that changed hands between the two countries four times between 1871 and 1945. Practical points: seen from outside, free, not climbed. The whole town walks in half an hour. From Colmar it is ten minutes by train or a bicycle ride through the vines.
Most Alsatian towns razed theirs in the nineteenth century — Turckheim did not.
Cloak, lantern and horn, singing his round every evening in season.
Porte de Munster and Obertor — Alsace's history in two words.
Turckheim, six kilometres west of Colmar
A route of about a hundred and seventy kilometres through dozens of wine villages between Marlenheim in the north and Thann in the south, along the foothills of the Vosges. Colmar sits roughly at its midpoint, and Turckheim, Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are all a short distance from it. The villages share a character — timber houses, flowers, wine cellars — and differ mainly in size and crowds: Riquewihr is the most famous and most crowded, Turckheim quieter.
For Turckheim, no: the train from Colmar reaches it in ten minutes. For Riquewihr, Eguisheim and Kaysersberg buses exist but are infrequent, and a car or bicycle is far easier. Bicycle hire in Colmar is common and the paths through the vines are flat and safe. Avoid driving if you intend to taste wine.
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