Near the Place du Marché-aux-Fruits (the site of the old fruit market) and at the intersection of the Grand Rue and the Rue des Marchands, the Koïfhus had a strategic location in medieval times.
This 15th-century building was once the economic and political center of Colmar. The ground floor was used as a warehouse for goods and a place to collect taxes on imports and exports. The first floor was the council chamber for the Décapole, the federation of imperial cities.
You can still see the coats of arms of the ten cities on the windows. The east side of the Koïfhus faces the Place de l'Ancienne Douane with a Bartholdi fountain commemorating the Imperial General Lazarus von Schwendi.
The building also has two adjoining wings created in the 16th century and a distinctive tile roof, the result of a 19th-century renovation. From the Koïfhus, visitors can easily reach the Grand Rue, one of the town's main thoroughfares that is lined with shops and restaurants.
