Mulhouse Uncovered: Art, Industry, and Automotive History
CITE DE L’AUTOMOBILE
Mulhouse, the “French Manchester,” is a museum lover’s delight. I recommend the world-class Cité de l’Automobile. We spent several hours at this museum. The car collection is huge and really impressive. The exhibition focus on European cars, especially Bugatti and a host of early French manufacturers. A superb history of the car, well presented from the very earliest days to latest technology.
The Cité de l’Automobile (National Automobile Museum) was created by the Schlumpf brothers, Italian textile magnates with a passion for cars. It is one of Europe’s largest car museums and famously holds an astonishing three percent of all cars ever produced by Bugatti, including many models the Bugatti company itself no longer possesses.
2. MULHOUSE OLD TOWN
The Mulhouse Old Town centers around the Place de la Réunion. This square is historically significant: from the 14th century until the late 18th century, Mulhouse was an independent city-state. It only rejoined France in 1798, and the celebration for its unification with the French Republic was held in this grand square.
Mulhouse was nearly totally destroyed during War World II so therefore it has been rebuilt. We stopped by the old town after visited the automobile museum. There happened to be a summer concert and it was a lot of fun. Great to have a beer and watch the world go by!
The pink city hall and the cathedral are the main attractions at the main square.
