Altorf Àldorf | |
|---|---|
 The church in Altorf | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Altorf | |
  Altorf  Altorf | |
| Coordinates:48°31′23″N7°31′45″E / 48.5231°N 7.5292°E /48.5231; 7.5292 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Bas-Rhin |
| Arrondissement | Molsheim |
| Canton | Molsheim |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Bruno Eyder[1] |
Area 1 | 10.19 km2 (3.93 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 1,445 |
| • Density | 141.8/km2 (367.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67008 /67120 |
| Elevation | 162–186 m (531–610 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Altorf (French pronunciation:[altɔʁf]ⓘ;German:Altdorf;Alsatian:Àldorf) is acommune in theBas-Rhindepartment in theGrand Est region of northeasternFrance.
The commune has been awardedone flower by theNational Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in theCompetition of cities and villages in Bloom.[3]
A part of the Canton of Molsheim and also itsarrondissement, Altorf is located about 15 kilometres west ofStrasbourg. The A352 National Highway runs from east to west across the southern portion of the commune but has no exit. Access to the commune is by road D392 which runs parallel but north of the highway and connects with Highway exit 8 to the east of the commune and west toDorlisheim. Another access road is the D127 which comes from Jaegerhof just over the northern border (and where there is a railway station) south to the village then continuing south toGriesheim-pres-Molsheim. There are also a number of small country roads covering the commune. Most of the commune is farmland with some forests in the north-eastern portion.[4]
TheBras de la Bruches flows through the commune from west to east, through the village then east to join theMuelbach and flows east under the nameAltorfer Arm until it joins theLa Bruche river north ofEintzheim Airport. In the north-east another waterway forms the north-eastern border of the commune.
The only other hamlet in the commune is that of Forstoff north-east of Altorf village.
Neighbouring communes and villages | |
|---|---|
It was known asAltum Coenobium in 787.
The origin of the commune name Altorf is from the formAlt-dorf (old town). The old spelling was still visible before theSecond World War.
However the spellingAltorf throughAltorfium / Atorfium (related toAltum Coenobium) it is more likely to come from theLatin rootaltum.
The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. TheKöppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[5]
Altorf is located on the ancient Romanvia romana orBergstrasse which connected Strasbourg to the strategic pass ofDonon. The funerarysteles of the 3rd century attest to a Roman presence.
Quickly the village's history became intertwined with that of its Benedictine abbey which was founded in 960 by Hugues III of Eguisheim calledl'Enroue (Raucous), Count of Nordgau and his wife Countess Hewilde. His father, Count Eberhard IV was buried in the abbey in 972, sealing the connection between the family and Altorf.[6]
The abbey had was built following acenobite community of monks called theAltum Coenobium, which was reported in 787, where the name of the abbey and village came from.
PopeLeo IX, son of the powerful empire family ofEguisheim-Dabo came to Altorf in 1049 to honor his ancestors. Heconsecrated analtar to Saint Cyriac in 1079 and endowed it withrelics (an arm of a saint, the remains ofSanta Maria Via Lata from Rome). Thereliquary in oriental style represents abust inpolychrome wood and with the wordsnotitia altorfensis is one of the major parts of the Abbey (second part of the 12th century).
Cyriac of Malaga, who had curedepilepsy of the daughter of the EmperorDiocletian in the 4th century, became the patron saint of the village and he is celebrated on 8 August. Altorf was a place of pilgrimage for epileptics and people possessed with demons with many healings reported in the abbey archives in the 13th century.
Thechapel was consecrated in 974, under the leadership ofMaïeul, Bishop ofCluny, and Erchembald,Bishop of Strasbourg. As with the abbeys ofSteige andMarmoutier, the Altorf Abbey was very successful because of its many dependencies. The churches ofBarembach andGrendelbruch, although relatively remote, were incorporated into the abbey by apapal bull of 1192 fromPope Celestin III which involved in particular the attachment oftithes. In particular its properties along the right bank of the Bruche extending from the course of the Rothaine into the plain of Alsace were attached to thebishopric of Strasbourg in 1226, extinguishing the line of Eguisheim.
In addition, the emperors gave the abbey the right to issue currency (currency of Saint Cyriac), from the Ottonian revival at the end of the 10th century. The Holy Roman EmperorFrederick Barbarossa explicitly recognized this right with a charter in 1153. In the 13th century however, this privilege was transferred toDachstein thenMolsheim. The cultural influence of the abbey led to the establishment of auniversity (not to be confused with that of Altdorf nearNuremberg) which was subsequently transferred toMolsheim in theCarthusian heartland there to be moved aside to form theUniversity of Strasbourg.
Economic and cultural power caused the shedding blood in Altorf in 1262 when the village and monastery were burned by the Strasbourgers who were in revolt against Bishop Walter de Geroldseck. In 1525 there was the peasant revolt which sacked the abbey (German Peasants' War). Finally a century later during theThirty Years War which included Swedish and French forces.
In 1606, Altorf Abbey joined the Union of Bursfeld which included a hundred Benedictine monasteries and was in 1624 formally called theBenedictine Congregation of Strasbourg (covering the abbeys ofEbersmunster andMarmoutier in Alsace, as well as of Ettenheimmünster,Gengenbach, Schuttent, and Schwarzbach inBaden).
ThePeasants' epic struggle (theBundschuh orDeutscher Bauernkrieg), which had partly originated from theHoly Roman Empire in 1524, crystallized in Lower Alsace around Altorf,Dorlisheim, andBoersch. The leaders of the movement wereErasmus Gerber andGeorg Ittel, respectively fromMolsheim andRosheim, established themselves with a group of 1500 men at their headquarters in Altorf, from where the contagion spread throughout the province in a week with their troops raiding monasteries and mistreating Jews.
Father Nartz reported these events in his monograph of 1887:
"From the first days of April, theSchultheiß of Rosheim:Ittel stood, with two townsfolk of Molsheim, at the head of the movement in the countryside. In a few days he had assembled a strong band of farmers of 1,500 men. From this number he chose messengers responsible to scour the area calling for men to convene on the plain of Altorf during the week of Easter. They then, armed with clubs, decided to finish with the nobility and clergy men. One group, consisting of countrymen from Epfig and Dambach, seized Ebersmunster and settled there; the second group was recruited closer to us: they gathered in theVal de Villé of Scherwiller at Saales and plundered the monastery of Honcourt and stole everything they could."
The revolt was put down a few weeks later, on 20 May 1525 nearSaverne, by DukeAntoine de Lorraine with 18,000 of the insurgents dead.
TheThirty Years War originated inBohemia with theDefenestration of Prague (1618). It spread like wildfire from 1620 through the entireHoly Roman Empire.
On this occasion, Swedish troops led by MarshalGustaf Horn were stationed in the village in the autumn of 1632.
Engaged by the Swedish kingGustavus Adolphus in the European politico-religious conflict in support of the German Protestant princes, they practiced a policy of terror against Catholics in the region (the peasants fled at the cry of "Der Schwedt kommt" (the Swedes are coming), terrified by the "Swedish torture" orSchwedentrunk which consisted of ingesting manure to suffocation). The population of Altorf were almost exclusively Catholic at that time and so suffered from this presence as didMolsheim andMutzig which was sacked in November 1632 with the help of Protestants in the neighbouring village ofDorlisheim who put ladders at the disposal of the Swedes to scale the ramparts.
In this regard, Altorf constituted an anchor point in the reconquest of the catholicCounter-Reformation, a reconquest which had been prepared by opening a college of Jesuits in Molsheim in 1580. The style and decoration of the church are particularly characteristic, very similar to those that can be seen in otherHabsburg lands (Vienna andPrague in particular).
The epitaph of the Abbot Matern recounts success in 1686 in bringing the inhabitants of the commune ofDuttlenheim to the Roman Church by making them leave the "Luther sect". This period of the war was difficult for the population judging by the fact that the wealthy abbey had to pledge the abbey cross in 1637 which it was able to recover only twenty years later.
The human toll of the Thirty Years War for Altorf - and more generally for Alsace - was very severe. This was compounded by the resilience of the plague and famine due to the harsh winters of theLittle Ice Age. The demographic impact was probably comparable to that of other regions of the Holy Roman Empire, such as Württemberg who lost 80% of its population at the same time.
In 1791, the abbey was dissolved by the revolutionaries and the thirteenBenedictine monks were forced to leave. Father Cyriakus Spitz became the last in a succession of abbots over 800 years.
TheRomanesquetympanum over the main door was destroyed and was replaced in 1886 by the sculptor Eugène Dock.
All the buildings constituting the abbey with its outbuildings were razed in the 19th century except for the wing of the abbey who has recently been the presbytery office.
The abbey and its outbuildings have been rebuilt several times including in 1180 with the construction of a new abbey which followed the first work commissioned in 1133 by Father Otton.
The most notable works are those of the convent buildings andtransept from 1715 by the Austrian Baroque masterPeter Thumb, the construction of theorgan byAndré Silbermann in 1723, and, from 1985 to 1991, a complete restoration under the supervision of theParson Henri Host.
The church was protected as a Historical Monument in 1932, registered in 1937, and gazetted in 1983.
In 2000 the lintel of the door of the village (Klostertor) which was damaged in 1965 was restored. In 2001 the Tithe Barn (Zehntelschir) was transformed into a library. In 2004 the Abbey Gardens (Hortus,herbarium,Pomarium) were restored, equipped, and opened to the public.
| Blazon: Azure, a meat-hook of Or hooked to an annulet the same.[7] |
List of Successive Mayors of Altorf[8]
| From | To | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1815 | 1832 | Thomas Klein |
| 1832 | 1848 | Amand Klein |
| 1848 | 1870 | Joseph Schaeffer |
| 1870 | 1877 | Alois Bürel |
| 1877 | 1886 | Charles Schaeffer |
| 1886 | 1890 | Nicolas Foesser |
| 1890 | 1909 | Charles Schaeffer |
| 1909 | 1919 | Aloise Heller |
| 1919 | 1927 | Aloise Voltz |
| 1927 | 1942 | Auguste Salomon |
| From | To | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | 1944 | Lucien Vetter |
| 1945 | 1947 | Aloise Schaeffer |
| 1947 | 1965 | Charles Meppiel |
| 1965 | 1971 | Eugène Eyder |
| 1971 | 1977 | Antoine Klein |
| 1977 | 1983 | Marcel Schaeffer |
| 1983 | 2001 | Antoine Klein |
| 2001 | 2008 | Régine Kientzi |
| 2008 | 2020 | Gérard Adolph |
| 2020 | 2026 | Bruno Eyder |
The inhabitants of the commune are known asAltorfois orAltorfoises in French.[9]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: EHESS[10] and INSEE[11] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:
[12][13][14] The Town Hall contains a Boundary Stone (1764)
which is registered as an historical object.[15][16][17][18] formerly theWachstub.[19][20][21][22][23][24] The farm contains a High-relief: Trinity and Virgin (1843) that is registered as an historical object.[25][26][27]The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:
[28] The chapel contains two items that are registered as historical objects:[31][32] now converted into a library.[33][34][35][36] The church contains a very large number of items that are registered as historical objects.[36][37] The Abbey contains two items that are registered as historical objects:[40][41] The Lodgings contain several items that are registered as historical objects:[46]This Benedictine church was founded in 960 by Hugh III of Eguisheim, was rebuilt in the 12th century, then again in the 17th century after a fire, and, more significantly, in the 18th century.
The church is unique and majestic through a combination of aRomanesque triplenave with sides in cut stone (17th century) in one part andbaroque elements baroque in the other part with thechoir andtransept in masonry and stone from the first quarter of the 18th century.
The centre is topped by an octagonal bell tower made of wood and covered with slated wood-scale. It was destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards.
The Baroque reconstruction commissioned by Abbot Amandus (Amand Zimmerman) was conducted by the Austrian masterPeter Thumb in 1715 for the convent buildings and 1724 for the choir and transept. The wing of the Abbey (the current presbytery) was made in 1707 by Albert Regitz d'Obernai.
These works were completed in 1727 with stuccoed decor: a marble altar with carved figures depicting a miraculous cure of Saint Cyriac, imposing oak stalls, and then an organ in 1730. The organ was originally commissioned by the Franciscans of Sarrebourg from the famous organ builderAndré Silbermann fromSaxony but was finally acquired by the abbey of Altorf and harmoniously complements the baroque surroundings.[47][48][49][50]
The porter's house guarding the entrance to the tithe barn is part of the church and therectory of the few elements of the abbey that still exist today. Thecloister, the house, and the outbuildings were destroyed during the French Revolution and in the 19th century.
The church formerly contained thetombs of the Dabo ancestors of PopeLeo IX and theHouse of Lorraine.
Many other objects (altar,chalice, etc.) are included in the Palissy database and protected as such.[36]
The Church has in its inventory a tombstone bearing the image of the monk Conrad de Gougenheim, steward of the abbey in the middle of the 14th century. He was in charge of the finances of the convent but also conducted religious affairs.
The tombstone depicts the deceased standing between two small columns surmounted with a flowered bracket. He holds in his hand a book while his feet stand on a dog.[51]
Made of Vosges pinksandstone. After a few years outside the walls of the Saint Cyriaque abbey the well was returned to its original place in 1739 in the gardens of the abbey on the occasion of their opening to the public.[22]
Situated in the locality ofGansweidt theMenhir or standing stones mark the boundary of the village from their 40-metre height. They probably date back to before Celtic settlement of the region.
The coat of arms of the village is visible halfway up (a late sculpture). Registered on 20 May 1930 as a historical monument.[46]
The Cloister's gardens were open to the public in 2004.
The journey through thePomarium (garden cemetery), theHerbularius (herb garden), and theHortus (vegetable garden) testifies to the high level of organization of Benedictine monastic life according to theRule of Saint Benedict "Ora et Labora" ("prayer and work").
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
