Wasselonne | |
|---|---|
 The town hall in Wasselonne | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
Location of Wasselonne  | |
  Wasselonne  Wasselonne | |
| Coordinates:48°38′N7°27′E / 48.64°N 7.45°E /48.64; 7.45 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Bas-Rhin |
| Arrondissement | Molsheim |
| Canton | Saverne |
| Intercommunality | Mossig et Vignoble |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Michèle Eschlimann[1] |
Area 1 | 15 km2 (6 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 5,777 |
| • Density | 390/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67520 /67310 |
| Elevation | 195–380 m (640–1,247 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Wasselonne (French pronunciation:[vaslɔn];German:Wasselnheim) is acommune based in theBas-Rhindepartment in north-easternFrance, more precisely, in theGrand Est region.[3] The oldest firm of unleavened bread inFrance:Etablissements René Neymann, is located in this town.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 3,832 | — |
| 1975 | 4,172 | +1.22% |
| 1982 | 4,862 | +2.21% |
| 1990 | 4,916 | +0.14% |
| 1999 | 5,542 | +1.34% |
| 2007 | 5,571 | +0.07% |
| 2012 | 5,662 | +0.32% |
| 2017 | 5,652 | −0.04% |
| Source: INSEE[4] | ||
Wasselonne is located in the Mossig valley, in theVosges foothills, near theAlsace Wine Route.
The town train station is nowadays closed. A bicycle path has been built in the place of the former railway.
In Roman times, Wasselonne was a vicus populated by theTriboci. The village was situated on the Durenberg hill and the left bank of the Mossig.
In theMerovingian period, Wasselonne prospered thanks to its proximity toKirchheim, where a large and popular royal residence was established. During the 7th and 8th centuries, Wasselonne was certainly densely populated.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Wasselonne Castle was described as one of the most important fortresses in Lower Alsace.[5] It was the seat of the bailiwick of Wasselonne. The stones used for its construction were extracted from the pinksandstone quarries of the Kronthal, identical to those used for the construction ofStrasbourg cathedral.[6]
In 1447, the Wasselonne War (1446-1448) pitted the Grand Chapter of Strasbourg against William, Count ofFénétrange and Walther von Dahn, who held the imperial fiefdom of Wasselonne from 1425 to 1483. Wasselonne was besieged and taken by the latter, then recaptured by Strasbourg troops who set fire to the castle in 1448.
The conflict officially ended when Walther von Dahn sold the castle and the village to the city of Strasbourg, in 1496, for 7,000florins.
Between 1811 and 1919, Wasselonne was the second largesttanning centre in the Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg being the first one. It was overtaken byBarr during the next decades.[7]
During theSecond World War, eleven Jewish people from Wasselonne were deported by the Nazis and never returned from the extermination camps. To this list should be added the Protestant Henri Roederer who died in 1943. The only Jewish survivor of the camps is Jean Samuel, who died in 2010.[8] He deported to theAuschwitz extermination camp with the writerPrimo Levi, who made him the character of Pikolo in his bookIf This Is a Man.[9]
Wasselonne is known for itscastle, which has been partially destroyed in 1674. The remains of this munument, a big circular tower and a square tower, can still be seen nowadays.
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