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Commune of Wissembourg |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Alsace |
| Department | Bas-Rhin (sous-préfecture) |
| Arrondissement | Wissembourg |
| Canton | Wissembourg |
| Mayor | Christian Gliech (2008–14) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 133 m–527 m (avg. 160 m) |
| Land area¹ | 48.18 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
8,170 |
| - Density | 169/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67544/ 67160 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Wissembourg (in French: Wissembourg, pronounced [visɑ̃buʁ]; in South Franconian: Weisseburch, pronounced [ˈvaɪsəbʊʁç]; in German: Weißenburg) is a small town and commune situated on the little River Lauter close to the border between France and Germany, in easternmost Alsace région, approximately 60 km north of Strasbourg and 35 km west of Karlsruhe. Wissembourg is a sous-préfecture of the Bas-Rhin département. The name Wissembourg is merely a Francosized version of Weißenburg (Weissenburg) in German meaning, "white castle".
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History
The Benedictine abbey around which the town has grown was founded in the 7th century, perhaps under the patronage of Dagobert I. The abbey was supported by vast territories. Of the 11th century buildings constructed under the direction of Abbot Samuel, only the Schartenturm and some moats remain. The town was fortified in the 13th century. The abbey church of Saint-Pierre et Paul, erected in the same century under the direction of Abbot Edelin was secularized in the French Revolution and despoiled of its treasures; in 1803 it became the parish church, resulting in the largest parish church of Alsace, only exceeded in size by the cathedral of Strasbourg. At the Abbey in the late 9th century, the monk Otfried composed a gospel harmony, the first substantial work of verse in German.
In 1354 Charles IV made it one of the grouping of ten towns called the Decapolis that survived annexation by France under Louis XIV in 1678 and was extinguished with the French Revolution. On January 25, 1677 a great fire destroyed many houses and the Hôtel de Ville; its replacement dates from 1741–52. Many early structures were spared: the Maison du Sel (1448), under its Alsatian pitched roof was the first hospital of the town. There are many 15th and 16th-century timber-frame houses, and parts of the walls and gateways of the town. The Maison de Stanislas was the retreat of Stanislas Leszczinski, ex-king of Poland, from 1719 to 1725, when the formal request arrived, April 3, 1725 asking for the hand of his daughter in marriage to Louis XV.
Wissembourg formed the setting for the Romantic novel L’ami Fritz (1869) co-written by the team of Erckmann and Chatrian, which provided the material for Mascagni's opera L'Amico Fritz.
The Battle of Wissembourg took place on August 4, 1870. It was the first battle of the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussians were nominally commanded by the Crown Prince Frederick, but ably directed by his Chief of Staff, General Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal. The French defeat allowed the Prussian army to move into France. The Geisburg monument commemorates the event.
Famous People
- The monk Otfried of Wissembourg
- Jean-Gotthard Grimmer, (1749–1820), pastor at Wissembourg then deputy to the National Convention on 10 ventôse year III (28 February 1795) to replace Philibert Simond.
- Louis Moll, born in Wissembourg agronomist in 1809 and died in 1880.
- Joseph Guerber, writer and MP protest, born in Wissembourg in 1824 and died in 1909.
- Stanislas Leszczyński, king of Poland from 1704 to 1709, exiled in Wissembourg and lived from 1719 to 1725. The school in the city now bears his name.
- Charles de Foucauld, explorer and religious habitat a few years of his childhood in Wissembourg.
- Auguste Dreyfus, a large financial and businessman french.
- Jean Frédéric Wentzel famous photos of Wissembourg
Sights
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The picturesque town, set in a landscape of rolling wheat fields, retains a former Augustinian convent (1279) with its large-scale gothic church, now the parish of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul; other medieval churches are the Église Saint-Jean, and the Église Saint-Ulrich. Its Grenier aux Dîmes (tithe barn) belonging to the Abbey is 18th century but an ancient foundation. Noteworthy houses are the medieval "Salt house", the Renaissance "House of l'Ami Fritz" and the imposing classicist City Hall, a work by Joseph Massol. Also Visiting the Pastery Shop Rebere as it's one of the oldest, and the top 100 in French Pastery.
External links
- Saints Peter and Paul Church in the Structurae database
- Virtual tour picture gallery (French)
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 5 November 2008, at 21:53.
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