This article is about the city in Alsace. There is also a Colmar, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Houses on a canal, Colmar

Colmar is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. Colmar was also known as Kolmar during the times when Alsace was part of Germany. In 1999 the city of Colmar had a population of 65,136 people. Colmar is also the head of Colmar préfecture, with 86,832 inhabitants.

History

The town of Colmar was founded in the 9th century. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226.

The city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years.

The city was united with France in 1697.

Geography

The city of Colmar is 40 miles (64 kilometers) south-southwest of Strasbourg, at 48.08°N, 7.36°E, on the Lauch River . It is connected to the Rhine River by a canal.

Culture

Local 15th century artist Martin Schöngauer painted what is considered his masterpiece, The Madonna of the Roses, in Colmar's St. Martin Church. Matthias Grünewald's famous Isenheim Altarpiece is the most noteworthy of the treaures housed in the city's Unterlinden Museum.

Education

There are quite a lot of Malaysian students studying in Colmar. The sponsorship program by JPA is a collabration between the Malaysian Government and the French Governemnt. Other sponsors of the education program is Telekom Malaysia and Petronas. Majority of the student will undergo 2 years of french language, math, physics and chemistry before persuing to universities.

Miscellaneous

Colmar was also the home town of sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (best known for the Statue of Liberty), and contains a number of his works.

Colmar has a sunny microclimate; it is the driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of just 550 mm, making it ideal for Alsace wine.