Sign of the butcher’s shop Charcuterie Zimmerlin designed by Hansi (Jean-Jacques Waltz) in the old quarter of the city of Colmar, Alsace, France
Some background information:
Jean-Jacques Waltz (1873 to 1951), also known as "Oncle Hansi", or simply "Hansi" ("little John") was a French artist of Alsatian origin. Born in Colmar, he was a staunch pro-French activist. Hansi is still a local Alsatian hero, who is famous for his quaint drawings, some of which contain harsh critiques of the Germans of the time. However, he is also famous for creating some of the most beautiful and funny hanging signs in all of Europe. However, his hanging signs can only be admired in the Alsace region.
In his early life Jean-Jacques Waltz worked as an artist for the textile industry, who also drew postcards and programmes for local events. In 1908, he started publishing satirical works under the pseudonym "Hansi", making particular fun of German tourists. He became famous after having published his polemical satiric work Professor Knatschke in 1912, which became a bestseller in France, as well as several other militant works. At that time he came to incarnate the symbol of pro-French Alsatians, especially among "revanchist" French intellectuals.
Hansi was imprisoned several times by the German authorities for making fun of the German military and professors, culminating in a one-year sentence given by the tribunal of Leipzig in July 1914. This caused a national outrage in France, making headlines in newspapers and inspiring two editorials by Georges Clemenceau, the then Prime Minister of France. By the way, Waltz’s artist’s name Hansi derives from the children’s book "L’Histoire d’ Alsace racontée aux petits enfants par l’oncle Hansi" (in English: "The history of the Alsace told to small children by Uncle Hansi"), which he wrote and illustrated in 1912.
In 1940, Hansi, still wanted by the Gestapo for his militant works and his treason of 1914, had to flee into Vichy France. He was attacked by the Nazis in Agen, and fled to Switzerland. Badly wounded by this attack, he remained weak until he died in 1951. Today, Hansi is archetypal of Alsace folklore. His original books, published in a few thousand copies, are valued among collectors. It is very common to find plates and every-day items decorated with his drawings, while his books have been republished several times. And finally there are still his great hanging signs hanging in several Alsatian towns and villages, some of them labelled with his name and others even unlabelled.
Colmar is a city in the department of Haut-Rhin in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. It is the third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse). Colmar is situated on the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the "capital of Alsatian wine". But the city is not only renowned for its wine, but also for its well-preserved old town, its numerous architectural landmarks and museums, among which is the Unterlinden Museum that houses the Isenheim Altarpiece. Colmar has about 70,000 inhabitants, while its metropolitan area has more than 120,000 residents.
In 823, the settlement was first mentioned in a document under its then name "Columbiarum". At the beginning of the 13th century, the town was walled in, and in 1226, it was granted the status of a free imperial city by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II from the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In subsequent years religious orders established themselves in Colmar. Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians built their places of worship and dwellings, with numerous churches and monastic buildings still standing today in the historical centre.
In 1354 Colmar joined the Décapole city league, which was an alliance formed by ten Imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the Alsace region to maintain their rights. The other towns belonging to this alliance were Haguenau, Wissembourg, Turckheim, Obernai, Kaysersberg, Rosheim, Munster, Sélestat and Mulhouse, while the free imperial city of Strasbourg remained outside.
In 1575, the city adopted the Protestant Reformation, long after its northern neighbours of Strasbourg and Sélestat. In the course of the Thirty Years' War, it was taken by the Swedish army in 1632, which held it for two years. In 1635, the city's harvest was spoiled by Catholic imperial forces while the residents shot at them from the walls.
In 1673, Colmar was conquered by France under King Louis XIV, along with the whole Alsace region. At that time the whole Roman Empire of the German Nation was still stricken by the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War and split into many medium-sized and petty states, which acted more or less independently with no unity between them. Hence, resistance against united France was futile. In 1679, the city was officially ceded to France by the Treaties of Nijmegen.
In 1854, the cholera epidemic claimed many lives in Colmar. In 1871, as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, Colmar was annexed by the newly formed German Empire and incorporated into the Alsace-Lorraine province. But after World War I, it returned to France according to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. In 1940, in the course of World War II, it was annexed again, this time by Nazi Germany, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945.
Despite the wars, Colmar has remained virtually unscathed and today offers a stroll through its rich history. The city still has a lot of secular and religious architectural landmarks, which reflect eight centuries of Germanic and French architecture. Many monuments dating from the Middle Ages to Renaissance have been finely restored and are on the historical monuments list. Hence, Colmar’s economy is dominated by tourism industry and also wine making, which is reflected by the annual Alsatian wine fair, the largest festival in the Alsace region.
