Grimacing Head of the Belfry

Perched in the belfry of the town hall in Mutzig, west of Strasbourg, the Rothüssmann quietly watches over the small wine-growing town. This 70 cm wooden sculpture, created in 1972 by Raymond Keller and restored in 2001, depicts a grimacing character whose history remains mysterious. In the past, every hour and half-hour, it stuck out its tongue at passersby, but since its transformation in 1934, it only moves its ears. The original, dating from the 18th century, is now kept in the city museum.

Two theories compete regarding its origin: some see it as the head of a Jacobin revolutionary, a symbol of the French Revolution, while others believe it came from the first building that served as the town hall. At the top of the turret, a weather vane adorned with a crescent moon recalls the war against the Ottoman Empire, suggesting the head might represent an Oriental wearing a turban rather than the Phrygian cap of the revolutionaries.