Soufflenheim

If there is something special to do in this town, than it is to have a sightseeing round trip through the potteries, visit their houses and shops. Most of them I introduce in  the Where to shop tips below.

The Oelberg is a small hill in the vicinity of the parish church. Actually on top of this fortified hill stood the old parish church until its destruction in 1820. The area was used as the cemetery as well.
Today it is a small green area with a memorial that depicts the Last Supper.
When standing on the hill you have nice views to the church and down the Grand'Rue, one of the main roads of Soufflenheim.

The work of art is exhibited in a sectional church-like building (possibly a reminiscence to the old church that stood on the hill). It was created in 1932 by Léon and Fernand Elchinger and Charles Burger and is a full-size reproduction of the masterpiece painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

Opposite of the Last Supper memorial stands a further memorial, this one dedicated to the victims of World War I (1914-18) from the town depicting Jeanne d'Arc.

The parish church was built in 1825.

At the foot of the church hill and at the corner of the street is the tourist information.
Here you can take a city map and other useful brochures.

These two houses are marvellous.
Actually they are two renovated timber frame houses but decorated with plenty of tiny lovely or kitsch details depending on your attitude for them.

The food is excellent as well as the prices are. You won't get a cheap meal here, but as it is typical for the Alsace region the dishes are quite large.

The Stork: You know the typical Alsatian animal that is depicted on so many paintings and postcards? It is the stork and this dummy is standing in front of the restaurant. Children will like it, because it is much closer than the real storks that buid their nest on top of a chimney.

This pottery was the first I went in and it is the most novel in Soufflenheim.
The style of pottery is modern and fresh, myriads of flowers cut into the clay and painted in bright colours, very much in contrast to most of the other potteries in town that stick to the traditional style.

It kept my admiration and I can recommend it as my No.1 choice of pottery in Soufflenheim, a must see address.

This pottery resides very central and easy to see at the crossing of two main roads.
The style of pottery is traditional but very vivid, lines and dots that form flowers, plants and singing birds. The colours are bright and vivid.
The range of products is huge and if you are looking for a present or a piece for your own kitchen you will have a good chance to find it here. This pottery made it to be my No.2 choice of recommendation.

On a trip through the Alsace you will certainly encounter HANSi. With this pseudonym the Alsatian artist Jean-Jacques Waltz (1873-1951) became well known. His illustrations can be found in almost all shops in Alsace, as post cards, books and printed on table ware and pottery.
Ceramiques Elchinger is producing the potteries with the Hansi illustrations and here in Soufflenheim you can by them much cheaper than in any other place. This makes it my No.3 choice of a pottery recommendation.
The pottery was founded in 1834 by Wendelin Elchinger (1809-1895) and successfully continued by Philippe Elchinger (1842-1906), Léon Elchinger (1871-1942), Fernand Elchinger (1911-1975) and since 1975 by the fifth and sixth generation Marc Elchinger (1946) and his son Thibaut Elchinger (1984).

With this pottery I start the round trip to potteries that are not within the first three recommended but are nevertheless worthwhile to visit for different reasons.
Here it is definitely the house of the pottery itself. The owner has thought of the walls as big advertising screens for his art and artistic it looks, see the pictures.
The range of products is huge and here you have the once in a time chance to compare different makers. Not only the products from the Poterie Henri Siegfried are exhibited but from other makers as well.

The timber frame house at the street is a lovely shop as can hardly found a second one.
Beside the entrance on the outside wall the whole family dynasty of potters can be read on a large blue pottery heart starting in the 18th century.
Inside you have to see the two glazed windows depicting the patron saints of the potters and of the Alsace.

When entering the courtyard you will see the large oven protruding through the wall of the house.

The shop is small but the house is beautiful.

This pottery became famous because of a brilliant design idea, an object that even so you supposedly haven't heard of it yet could be exhibited in modern design museums - Les Mini.Kougs.

You have always complained because your bowls were either slightly too large or too small? Here you can choose from more ten different sizes and many beautiful colours.

Also this pottery is exhibiting plenty of small items on the street facade of the house.
The house itself is more colourful and pictoresque than the pottery inside and a proof of how important advertising is.

This pottery was founded in 1888 and is now run by the 4th generation.

The tableware by the artist Emmanuel Keil was inspired by the colours of the Provence. You can hardly find more colourful pottery.
Apart from that you can also find all kinds of different pottery ware for the garden and depicting animals. You don't like bowls or plates, but cats or frogs or owls? Here you will find what you are looking for.

This pottery is much more than a manufacturer for plain tableware which of course can be seen in the store as well.
A small exhibitions of tiled stoves shows another range of traditional and still useful pottery ware.
If you like what you see you can order a new tiled stove.

This shop is small and offers the traditional Alsatian pottery tableware but with some surprising design.

Here you can compare the pottery products of different makers.

If you have health problems during your trip you can visit the medical centre located in this beautiful timber frame house from 1775.

Former inhabitants include "Johanes Stiefel Meyer - Maria Anna Stiefel-Meyerin" as can be read nicely written on one of the timber posts.

The arms show St. Michael, patron saint of Soufflenheim, killing the dragon. Though the present colours are gold and white on a red shield, the colours of the Alsace region, the original granted in 1697 depicted St. Michael standing in  the royal colours, St. Michael in gold similar to the golden fleurs-de-lis, the stylized lily of the kings set on a blue (heraldic "azure") background, but without him killing a dragon.

Note: The page was originally created on Apr 12, 2008 for Virtualtourist.com. It contributed 25 tips and 90 photos to the Soufflenheim Travel guide, was Top Rated by the user community and ranked No.1 of the Top 5 Soufflenheim Writers. The site was closed down on Feb 27, 2017.