More about Musée Unterlinden

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Don’t be surprised by the old school feel this place cultivates, for the Unterlinden Museum is housed in a 13th century Dominican religious sister’s convent. 

The museum was founded in 1849, taking advantage of the old convent that had been abandoned since the French Revolution. While this museum may sound a little obscure to most, turns out about 200,000 visitors stroll through these halls each year, thus making Unterlinden the most visited museum in the French region of Alsace. A very special and notorious piece of art lies within these walls. It has come to be known as The Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald. This is by far and away the most famous piece of art in this place and fanatics flock from all over the world to come to Unterlinden to see it.

The collection consists of a lot of medieval and early Renaissance art. This museum also has a nice display of archaeological finds, stained glass, weapons, furniture, musical instruments, and toys from the 14th to 19th century. Also for all you aspiring sommeliers, they have a collection of ornate wine barrels. Don't if old stuff 'aint your thang; this museum also houses a variety of contemporary pieces as well.  

The Unterlinden is planning a major expansion, which was way overdue. The renovations will double the size of the museum and allow many of the contemporary works that live in the vaults due to lack of exhibition space to finally be seen by the public’s eye. This does come at a price of course, they are expecting to drop over $27 million before to make this renovation a reality.

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Here is what Wikipedia says about Unterlinden Museum

The Unterlinden Museum (French: Musée Unterlinden) is located in Colmar, in the Alsace region of France. The museum, housed in a 13th-century Dominican religious sisters' convent and a 1906 former public baths building, is home to the Isenheim Altarpiece by the German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald and features a large collection of local and international artworks and manufactured artifacts from prehistorical to contemporary times. It is a Musée de France. With roughly 200,000 visitors per year, the museum is the most visited in Alsace.

Check out the full Wikipedia article about Unterlinden Museum