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Colmar is situated at an altitude of 186 m at the confluence of the rivers Lauch and Ill in the French département Haut-Rhin. Colmar is the préfecture of the département, and also the capital (chef-lieu) of the arrondissement Colmar as well as the cantons Colmar-Nord and Colmar-Sud. With a population of about 67,200 (2006), Colmar is the second-largest city (after Mulhouse) in the département, and the third-largest (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse) in the région Alsace.

The oldest written source mentioning Columbarium dates from AD 823. In 1226 Colmar obtained the status of a Free Imperial Town within the Holy Roman Empire. In the 14th century, Colmar joined the Décapole, an alliance of ten towns of the Holy Roman Empire in Alsace (Haguenau, Colmar, Wissembourg, Turckheim, Obernai, Kaysersberg, Rosheim, Munster, Sélestat and Mulhouse) that was founded in 1354. In 1673 Colmar was occupied by French troops. After the Peace of Nijmegen (1679), Colmar officially became part of France. In 1791 it became the capital of the départemant Haut-Rhin. After the French German War of 1870/1871 Alsace and Lorraine were annexed by Germany (Imperial Territory Alsace-Lorraine). After World War I, the territory was returned to France. During World War II, the regionw was again occupied by Germany and the Alsace region was incorporated into the Reichsgau Baden-Elsass. After the Battle of the Colmar Pocket in 1945 it was returned to France again.

The picture on glass no.2422 shows the monument for General Rapp on the Champ de Mars. Jean Rapp was born in 1771 in Colmar and joined the French army in 1788. Following his outstanding performance in the Battle of Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) he obtained the rank of Divisional General in 1804 and also became adjutant to Napoléon Bonaparte. In 1809 he was styled Comte de Rapp. As governor of Gdańsk he defended the town for one year after Napoleon's retreat from Russia. After being imprisoned in Russia he only returned to France in 1814. After having supported Napoleon after his return from Elba during the Hundred Days, Rapp offered his resignation several times, but was reinstated in grace. Rapp became deputy of the department of Haut-Rhin and became treasurer of King Louis XVIII in 1819. The monument was erected in 1856. It was designed by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who today is famous as the creator of the Statue of Liberty in New York.