Views of Mulhouse

Mulhouse: this town on the border of three territories has aroused the curiosity of engravers and cartographers. The collections of the Mulhouse Municipal Library contain a wealth of views of the town, including drawings, prints, and maps. Let's explore these collections century by century...

Extract from M. Guggenbuhl's article, "De deux vues jumelles de Mulhouse éditées par Engelmann Père & Fils" (in L'Annuaire historique de Mulhouse - 2021, pp. 95-108):

We are familiar with 18th century copper engraved plans, which are embellished and enlivened at the periphery by figurative representations of emblematic buildings, mostly place of power (political, ecclesiastical, etc.), engineering structures (bridges, canals, etc.), and so forth.
There is, in fact, a small tradition of prints showing oblique or panoramic views of Mulhouse from the heights of the Rebberg neighbourhood towards the Vosges (see opposite) or, to use the title of this emblematic view from the Manufactures du Haut-Rhin series (Mulhouse, Engelmann, 1822-1825, Plate III) by Jean Mieg: "Du côté du levant" (see below).

Mulhouse du côté du soleil levant, par Mieg

If we consider the earliest prints, let's mention Daniel Meissner's map published in his Thesaurus philo-politicus (Frankfurt, Kieser, 1623-1626 – see opposite) and the engraved plate Mülhausen im obern Elsass by M. Merian which adorns the Topographia Alsatiae by M. Zeiller (Frankfurt, W. Hoffmann, 1644). The "Prospect der Stadt Mülhausen" ('View on Mulhouse town") by D. Herrliberger (see below) is a good example of the 18th century's engravings. Then in the early 19th century come first the aforementioned emblematic and "prototypical" view from the Manufactures du Haut-Rhin series. Eventually, let's mention the rare "Vue de Mulhouse prise du côté du Levant", drawn from life by H. Luttringshausen, 1810, an engraving with a composition relatively similar to another panoramic view of Mulhouse, folded out and this time lithographed, "Mulhausen Anno 1810", which adorns the book by the chronicler Mathieu Mieg Der Stadt Mülhausen Geschichte bis zum Jahr 1816-1817 (Mülhausen, J. Rissler, 1816-1817), already printed by Engelmann after Mieg's work.

What they all have in common is that they depict, with varying degrees of realism, the changes that have taken place in the urban landscape, including the disappearance of the fortifications and the gradual apparition of factory buildings and chimneys.

For more information, please read the article : "Pour une iconographie mulhousienne. Aspects de la République de Mulhouse". (Bull. du. Musée histor. de Mulhouse, Mulhouse, 72, 1964, p. 41-79. pi.).