Hotel of Ebersmunster (the Prelates'Courtyard)

THE PRELATES’ COURTYARD
Built in 1538, this former residence of the Benedictine monks of Ebersmunster is among the earliest examples of Alsatian Renaissance in Sélestat. A place of refuge behind the ramparts of the town and also a storehouse for the in kinds of the Prelat, the Praelatenhof hosted many distinguished guests. Inside, a sandstone fl agged hall. On each side of the entrance portal can still be seen medallions in the antique style with profi les of Remus and Romulus. The door frame is crowned with shells and decorated with pilasters adorned with candlesticks and ribbons. The building was purchased by the town in 1960 and listed in 1976.

NORTHEN PORTAL FORMER MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE PRELATES’COURTYARD
This impressive gate is in the fashion of a triumphal arch decorated in the style of Italian Renaissance. On the pillars decorated with arabesque, medallions in the antique style bearing the faces of roman consuls or Germanic emperors. On the bigger ones, the heads of Sainte Odile’s parents, the founders of Ebersmunster Abbey. These medallions were hewed around 1793 at the time of the Revolutionary terror. On the entablature a Latin inscription is engraved with the names of two abbots, George Rickenbach and Jean Sengelbach, in charge of the hotel. The elevation is terminated by an aedicule with shells typical of Renaissance decoration.