Palace of the Sovereign Council

This building, formed from the merging of several houses, was rebuilt in 1532, extending over the cemetery of the neighboring Augustinian convent. At the end of the 16th century, it underwent a significant Renaissance-style transformation, once adorned with paintings and epigrams that have since disappeared. In 1595, a statue symbolizing justice was added to its new façade. After the Sovereign Council arrived in 1698, several modifications were made. Its current neoclassical façade dates from work carried out between 1769 and 1771.

Originally used by the patrician society of Wagkeller, the building became the meeting place of the Magistrate in 1532, which had previously convened at the Koïfhus. Louis XIV stayed here during his visits in 1681 and 1683. The Sovereign Council of Alsace, created in 1657, settled here from 1698. In the 19th century, it served as a court of appeal before becoming today the seat of a high court.

On the façade facing rue des Augustins, a niche houses a replica of the Manneken-Pis. This statue, originally placed in front of the municipal baths, was offered in 1922 by the city of Brussels to Colmar in memory of the shared sufferings endured during the German occupation.