Mulhouse is known for its museums, especially theCité de l'Automobile (also known as theMusée national de l'automobile, 'National Museum of the Automobile') and theCité du Train (also known asMusée Français du Chemin de Fer, 'French Museum of the Railway'), respectively the largest automobile and railway museums in the world.[citation needed] An industrial town nicknamed "the FrenchManchester",[5] Mulhouse is also the main seat of theUpper Alsace University, where the secretariat of theEuropean Physical Society is found.
Mulhouse is acommune with a population of 108,312 in 2019.[6] This commune is part of anurban unit also named Mulhouse with 247,065 inhabitants in 2018.[2]
Mulhouse joining Alsace 100th anniversary medal 1898 byFrédéric Vernon, obverseReverse of the medalForts of Mulhouse 1650
In 58 BC a battle took place west of Mulhouse and opposed the Roman army ofJulius Caesar by a coalition of Germanic people led byAriovistus. The first written records of the town date from the twelfth century. It was part of the southern Alsatian county ofSundgau in theHoly Roman Empire. From 1354 to 1515, Mulhouse was part of theZehnstädtebund, an association of tenFree Imperial Cities in Alsace. The city joined theSwiss Confederation as an associate in 1515 and was therefore not annexed by France in thePeace of Westphalia in 1648 like the rest of the Sundgau. An enclave in Alsace, it was a free and independentCalvinist republic, known asStadtrepublik Mülhausen, associated with the Swiss Confederation until, after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798, it became a part of France in theTreaty of Mulhouse signed on 28 January 1798, during theDirectory period of theFrench Revolution.
The first textile printing works in Mulhouse were established in 1746 bySamuel Koechlin, Jean-Jacques Schmaltzer, Jean-Henri Dolfus and Jean-Jacques Feer. The textile printing works in the city industrialized in the 19th century and theAlsace region became a global leader in the manufacturing and marketing of printed fabric. Art and craft printed textiles were sold alongside textiles that had been finished in a complex industrial printing process.[8] André Koechlin (1789–1875) built machinery and started making railroad equipment in 1842. The firm in 1839 already employed 1,800 people. It was one of the six large French locomotive constructors until the merger withElsässische Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden in 1872, when the company becameSociété Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques.[9]
After the Prussian victory in theFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Mulhouse was annexed to theGerman Empire as part of the territory ofAlsace-Lorraine (1871–1918). The city was briefly occupied by French troops on 8 August 1914 at the start ofWorld War I, but they were forced to withdraw two days later in theBattle of Mulhouse. French forces then reoccupied the city again on 19 August, before retreating again on 28 August having suffered heavy casualties. Alsatians who celebrated the appearance of the French army were left to face German reprisals, with several citizens sentenced to death. After World War I ended in 1918, French troops entered Alsace, and Germany ceded the region to France under theTreaty of Versailles. After theBattle of France in 1940, it was occupied by German forces until its return to French control at the end ofWorld War II in May 1945.
The town's development was stimulated first by the expansion of thetextile industry andtanning, and subsequently bychemical and Engineering industries from the mid 18th century. Mulhouse was for a long time called the FrenchManchester. Consequently, the town has enduring links withLouisiana, from which it imported cotton, and also with theLevant. The town's history also explains why its centre is relatively small.
On 22 February 2025, a 69-year-old Portuguese man,Lino Sousa Loureiro, was killed and several police officers were injured in a stabbing attack at a market in the centre of Mulhouse. A 37-year-old Algerian man, Ibrahim Abdessemed, was arrested at the scene and a terrorist inquiry was opened as the suspect reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" when carrying out the attack.[10]
Two rivers run through Mulhouse, theDoller and theIll, both tributaries of theRhine. Mulhouse is approximately 100 kilometres (62 miles) fromStrasbourg andZürich; it is 350 km (217 mi) fromMilan and about 340 km (211 mi) fromFrankfurt. It is close toBasel, Switzerland andFreiburg, Germany. It shares theEuroAirport international airport with these two cities.[11]
Medieval Mulhouse consists essentially of a lower and an upper town.
The lower town was formerly the inner city district of merchants and craftsmen. It developed around the Place de la Réunion (which commemorates its reunion with France). Nowadays this area is pedestrianised.
TheNouveau Quartier (New District) is the best example ofurban planning in Mulhouse, and was developed from 1826 on, after thetown walls had been torn down (as they were in many towns in France). It is focused around thePlace de la République. Its network of streets and its triangular shape are a good demonstration of the town's desire for a planned layout. The planning was undertaken by the architectsG. Stolz andFélix Fries. This inner city district was occupied by rich families and the owners of local industries, who tended to be liberal and republican in their opinions.
The Rebberg district consists of grand houses inspired by the colonnaded residences of Louisiana cotton planters. Originally, this was the town'svineyard (the wordRebe meaningvine in German). The houses here were built asterraces in the English style, a result of the town's close relationship withManchester, where the sons of industrialists were often sent to study.
Mulhouse's climate istemperateoceanic (Köppen: Cfb), but its location further away from the ocean gives the city colder winters with some snow, and often hot and humid summers, in comparison with the rest of France.
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Mulhouse proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Mulhouse absorbed the former commune of Dornach in 1914 andBourtzwiller in 1947.[15]
Hôtel de Ville (1552). The town hall was built in 1553 in theRhenishRenaissance style.Montaigne described it as a "palais magnifique et tout doré" ("splendid golden palace") in 1580. It is known for itstrompe-l'œil paintings, and its pictures ofallegories representing the vices and virtues.
Workers' quarter (mid 19th century), inspired workers' quarters in many other industrial towns.[17]
Place de la Bourse and the building of theSociété Industrielle de Mulhouse, in theNouveau Quartier (19th century)
As early as the mid-19th century, Mulhouse was known as "the industrial capital of Alsace", the "city with a hundred chimneys" (cité aux cent cheminées) and "the French Manchester".[17]
Transport within Mulhouse is provided bySoléa and comprises a network of buses together with thecity's tram network, which opened on 13 May 2006. The tramway now consists of three tram lines and one tram-train line.
MotorwayA36 is the main axis connecting the city with the west of the country, to cities such asDijon, Paris andLyon. TheA35 is the main north–south axis, connecting cities such asStrasbourg andBasel.
Mulhouse is one of the nation's hubs for women's volleyball.ASPTT Mulhouse won multiple titles at theNational level. The team plays its home games at the Palais des Sports.
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