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Lembach | |
|---|---|
 The town hall in Lembach | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
Location of Lembach  | |
  Lembach  Lembach | |
| Coordinates:49°01′N7°47′E / 49.01°N 7.79°E /49.01; 7.79 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Bas-Rhin |
| Arrondissement | Haguenau-Wissembourg |
| Canton | Reichshoffen |
| Intercommunality | Sauer-Pechelbronn |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Christian Trautmann[1] |
Area 1 | 48.89 km2 (18.88 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 1,510 |
| • Density | 31/km2 (80/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67263 /67510 |
| Elevation | 177–551 m (581–1,808 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Lembach is acommune in theBas-Rhindepartment andGrand Estregion of north-easternFrance.[3]
The toponymLembach is of Germanic origin, cognate to modern GermanLehm, denotingclay. The Germanic hydronym*-bak(i) entered the French language via High German, and took on two forms: the Germanic form-bach and Romantic-bais.[4]
Lembach lies in theSauer valley, surrounded by the woods and sandstone cliffs of thePalatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. It is located on Departmental Road 3 which runs fromWissembourg, 12 km to the east of Lembach, to the north-western tip ofBas-Rhin and the onward route toBitche in thedepartment of Moselle. The German frontier lies some 5 km to the north.
In the village centre is a Protestant church dating from 1750 (but incorporating a tower from the late Medieval period) as well as a nineteenth-century Catholic church.
The commune, which covers an extensive land area, much of it uninhabitable owing to the topography, also includes the small village of Mattstall and the hamlet of Pfaffenbronn.
The spectacular scenery and the fortifications of past centuries, coupled with the limited possibilities for agriculture in the immediate area, make tourism a key source of employment.
The presence in Lembach of a well regardedhaute cuisine restaurant has in recent years made the village something of a "centre of pilgrimage" forgourmets, many of whom cross the border from such nearby population centres asKarlsruhe,Germersheim, andMannheim.
Clearly marked footpaths, some of them leading to ruined fortifications or to picturesque rock faces, are promoted as another tourist attraction. The best known and most substantial of the medieval period fortifications is probably theChâteau du Fleckenstein. The commune also includesa section of theMaginot Line.
The extensive territory has often found itself a crossing-point between the French and German worlds in times both of peace and of war.
In September 1972 the commune of Lembach was merged with the neighbouring village of Mattstall to the south. Mattstall retains the semi-independent status of anassociated commune.[5]
