Herrlisheim Harelse | |
|---|---|
 The town hall in Herrlisheim | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Herrlisheim | |
  Herrlisheim  Herrlisheim | |
| Coordinates:48°43′52″N7°54′29″E / 48.7311°N 7.9081°E /48.7311; 7.9081 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Bas-Rhin |
| Arrondissement | Haguenau-Wissembourg |
| Canton | Bischwiller |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Serge Schaeffer[1] |
Area 1 | 14.38 km2 (5.55 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 4,701 |
| • Density | 326.9/km2 (846.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67194 /67850 |
| Elevation | 120–131 m (394–430 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Herrlisheim is acommune in theBas-Rhindepartment inGrand Est in north-easternFrance.[3] The town dates from the 8th century. Herrlisheim was the scene of very heavy fighting duringOperation Nordwind, an offensive launched by theGerman Army duringWorld War II that inflicted considerable damage to the town.
Herrlisheim is positioned on the richalluvial farmland to the west of theRiver Rhine, north ofStrasbourg. The town is part of thecanton ofBischwiller and the district ofHaguenau and is located on the road fromStrasbourg toLauterbourg along theA35 motorway .
Herrlisheim is bordered by the towns ofRohrwiller to the northwest,Drusenheim to the northeast,Gambsheim to the southwest andOffendorf to the southeast. The area is crossed by theZorn,Moder andKleinebach Rivers.
The local economy is based on agriculture. The village promotes itself as the localpotato capital, and a Potato Festival is organised annually.[4]
Herrlisheim (Herlesheim) was first mentioned in a deed dated 15 February 743, gifting a village calledHariolfesvilla (Hariolf’s Farm) to theWeissenburg Abbey, Alsace. The village may owe its name to Hariolf, an Alsatian who signed as a witness to a document dated 780.[5] Another charter dated 1 March 775 mentioned the land ofHariolueshaim, also referring to Herlesheim, as being owned by the Abbey.[6]
In 1251, the village known now asHerlosvesheim was owned by the Counts ofOettingen,Landgraves of lower Alsace. In 1332, control of the town was passed to the Barony ofLichtenberg, then in 1480 to the Count of Deux-Ponts (German:Zweibrücken-Bitsch). The Lichtenberg line passed to theHanau family, who became the Counts ofHanau-Lichtenberg in 1570. From 1736 until theFrench Revolution, the town was controlled by the House ofHess-Darmstadt, and after 1803 due to territorial reforms following the revolution, the former county of Hanau-Lichtenberg was divided and Herrlisheim was attached to theBailiwick ofOffendorf. In 1871, it was annexed to the German imperial province ofElsass-Lothringen (German:Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen) after its victory in theFranco-Prussian War.[5]
The earliest mention of a Jewish community in Herrlisheim dates from 1349 when persecutions occurred during theBlack Plague. A 1752 inventory notes thirteen Jewish families living there since 1693. Records mention "the Jew Läwel" who had to pay two florins of tax for protection in 1714. Village census records from 1821 and 1842 showed 198 Jewish residents, and in 1890, 202 Jewish residents. By 1936, the Jewish community in Herrlisheim numbered only 80 people. In 1940 under the German occupation, the remaining Jewish population in Herrlisheim were deported to the south of France. At least eleven of them were murdered. A monument with the names of the victims was erected in the Jewish cemetery of the town. After 1945, some of the former Jewish inhabitants returned; in 1953 there were 36 Jewish residents and 27 in 1956.[7][8][9]
The community had a synagogue prior to the 18th century, which was demolished in 1805 and replaced with another building, which was then replaced with a new building in 1850. This synagogue was vandalized during World War II; only walls remained. The adjacent small prayer house was entirely destroyed. The synagogue and prayer house were rebuilt in the 1950s. The synagogue was closed in 1969.[7][8]
Until 1870, Jewish residents of Herrlisheim were buried in the cemetery ofHaguenau, along with Jewish residents ofHattstatt. After theFranco-Prussian War of 1870, the towns of Herrlisheim andOffendorf opened a Jewish cemetery in 1886 on the Rue d'Offendorf, directly at the end of the village of Herrlisheim. The cemetery now contains about 250 burials.[10] Several times in the past decades since the end of World War II, the graves were vandalized. In 2004, on the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birthday, pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic slogans were discovered on 127 graves of the burying ground, and cemetery signs were defaced.[7][11][12]
Herrlisheim was the scene of intense fighting in January 1945 between the 553rdVolksgrenadier Regiment, the 35th, 119th and 2nd Panzer Grenadier Regiments,10th SS Division and elements of theUnited States 12th Armored Division of theSeventh Army.[13] The fighting began as part ofOperation Nordwind which was the last offensive by German troops on the Western front in the war and was focused on the recapture ofStrasbourg. The 553rd Volksgrenadier crossed theRhine River and established a bridgehead aroundGambsheim on January 5. Three days later, the 12th Armored Division started to attempt the reduction of the bridgehead and attacked Herrlisheim directly on January 16.
In the second day of fighting, elements of 10th SS Panzer Division joined in the attack and inflicted very heavy casualties, virtually wiping out the 714th Tank Battalion and the 56th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 12th Armored Division, who suffered 1,250 casualties (out of a Division strength of 10,000 men) and lost 70 combat vehicles.[13] The next day as 10th SS Panzer attempted to exploit its victory to the west of the town, it was their turn to take heavy losses as the US forces slowly withdrew. The badly battered town was finally liberated on January 31 by the United States Army as the Germans retired after the overall failure of their offensive.[14]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 3,108 | — |
| 1975 | 3,780 | +2.84% |
| 1982 | 3,941 | +0.60% |
| 1990 | 3,877 | −0.20% |
| 1999 | 4,198 | +0.89% |
| 2007 | 4,566 | +1.06% |
| 2012 | 4,808 | +1.04% |
| 2017 | 4,861 | +0.22% |
| Source: INSEE[15] | ||
| «Écartelé: au premier d'azur aux trois chevrons d'or, au deuxième de gueules au fer de lance d'argent, au troisième d'argent au lion contourné de gueules, au quatrième d'azur au poisson d'argent posé en barre.»[16]"Quarterly, on the firstazure threegoldchevrons, on the secondgules a spearhead ofsilver, in the third silver alion gulesrampant, in the fourth azure a silver fish with its head raised to the right."
|
Wissembourg 742.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
