House of the commander

The Hospitaller order of Saint John was founded in the XVIIIth century with the mission to train Alsatian noblemen to the defence of Christendom in western Mediterranean.

The “Ritterhof” (the house of the knights-monks) is the sole remnant of the building complex founded in 1265 and the Priory House was erected in 1565.

This quadrangular building has three fl oors and is an important milestone in the history of renaissance in Sélestat because it bears the marks of the second half of the XVIth century.

The door of the turret is in the Gothic tradition. The silt winding staircase of the turret shows many carvers’ marks.