Wimmenau
Wìmmenau
Commune
Église Saint-André (Church of Saint Andrew), erected in 1681.
Église Saint-André (Church of Saint Andrew), erected in 1681.
Coat of arms of Wimmenau
Coat of arms
Location of Wimmenau
Wimmenau is located in France
Wimmenau
Wimmenau
Wimmenau is located in Grand Est
Wimmenau
Wimmenau
Coordinates: 48°54′47″N 7°25′26″E / 48.9131°N 7.4239°E / 48.9131; 7.4239
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
DepartmentBas-Rhin
ArrondissementSaverne
CantonIngwiller
IntercommunalityHanau-La Petite Pierre
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Gilbert Sand[1]
Area
1
20.76 km2 (8.02 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2021)[2]
1,049
 • Density51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
67535 /67290
Elevation197–413 m (646–1,355 ft)
(avg. 205 m or 673 ft)
Websitewww.wimmenau.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Wimmenau (French pronunciation: [viməno] or [vimənau][3]) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

History

Wimmenau is located at the crossroads of an ancient Celtic road from Haguenau to Sarre-Union and an ancient Roman road from Strasbourg to Saarbrücken. It was mentioned for the first time in 836 (as Wimmenawe). In 1365, during the Hundred Years War, a hill near the village was used by English soldiers to monitor the Sparsbach and Moder Valleys and named "Englishberg".[4]

The village was levelled during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), except for the bell-tower of the Church of Saint Andrew, and was resettled by Swiss immigrants from the Bern area in the mid-seventeenth century.[5][4] From 1637-1655, there was not a single bourgeois (inhabitant paying the citizen tax) in the town, which had 30 bourgeois before the war.[6][lower-alpha 1] As with most of the Alsace region, Wimmenau came under the rule of France in 1680.[4] The lack of farmland led to the emigration of many of the commune's inhabitants to the United States and Argentina during the nineteenth century.[4] Alsace became part of the German Empire through the Treaty of Frankfurt in 1871, but was returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The town came under German administration again during World War II until it was liberated by American troops on 5–6 December 1944.[4]

The town contains two national heritage sites (monuments historique). The Church of Saint Andrew (Église Saint-André), also known as the Protestant Church (Église protestante), was designated as a monument historique in 1995. Its bell-tower and chancel dates to the 12th century and was equipped with a ribbed vault in the 15th century. The church's nave—main building—was rebuilt after 1681 and expanded in 1878.[7] A house built in 1669 (with additions in 1718) by the Scherer[lower-alpha 2] brothers—Swiss immigrants—with an adjacent oil mill dating to 1837 was added in 1984.[8] The Scherer house, oil mill, and a few additional outbuildings form a complex which house historical artifacts related to rural life in the area.[5]

Geography

The commune lies along the Moder River; other waterways in the commune are the Rothbach and Rosteig Streams.[9] It is entirely within the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park. It lies between 197 and 413 m elevation; the average elevation is 205 m.[10]

Climate

Wimmenau experiences an average of 1635 hours of sunshine a year (the average for France is 1900 hours).[10]

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 860—    
1975 864+0.07%
1982 900+0.58%
1990 1,012+1.48%
1999 1,050+0.41%
2007 1,130+0.92%
2012 1,133+0.05%
2017 1,081−0.94%
Source: INSEE[11]

Inhabitants are known as Wimmenauviens (males) or Wimmenauviennes (females).[9] The hamlet of Kohlhuette is divided between the communes of Wimmenau and Wingen-sur-Moder.

Population of Wimmenau, by age and sex (2017)[11]
Sex0-1415-2930-4445-5960-7475-8990+
Males (percentage)16.913.019.623.718.87.70.2
Females (percentage)14.211.719.524.818.011.40.4

Transport

Wimmenau lies along route D919—named Route Principale (Main Road) while passing through the town—connects the town of Wimmenau with Wingen-sur-Moder to the northwest and Ingwiller to the southeast. Route D12 connects the town of Wimmenau with the hamlet of Kohlhuette. Route D157 connects the town of Wimmenau with Reipertswiller.[12]

The town of Wimmenau lies along the Mommenheim-Sarreguemines rail line, which connects the cities of Strasbourg, France to Saarbrücken, Germany.[13] The rail line was built during German rule by the General Division of the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine; the section through Wimmenau opened 1 May 1895.[14] TER Grand Est, a Train Express Régional operated by SNCF, operates on this line. There is no railway station in Wimmenau; TER Grand Est serves Wimmenau with bus service connecting to rail service at Wingen-sur-Moder and Ingwiller.[15]

Notable residents

Politician Philippe Richert grew up in Wimmenau. He has served as senator for Bas-Rhin (1992–2010) and is the current president of the Alsace Regional Council (2010–present).[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ The commune's website says: "Before the Thirty Years War began in 1618, Wimmenau had 30 inhabitants...The last of the inhabitants sought refuge in Ingwiller and left the town uninhabited from 1637 to 1655." (French: "Lorsque la guerre de 30 Ans éclata en 1618, Wimmenau comptait 30 habitants...Les derniers habitants se réfugièrent à Ingwiller et laissèrent le village inoccupé de 1637 à 1655.")[4]
  2. ↑ Also spelled Sheer.

References

  1. ↑ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 9 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Localisation et prononciation des noms de lieux d'Alsace commençant par T, U, V, W ou Z". elsasser.free.fr. Archived from the original on 2020-09-13. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Histoire, Lieux et Monuments". wimmenau.fr (in French). Commune of Wimmenau. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Maison Suisse à Wimmenau et Conservatoire du patrimoine rural des Vosges du Nord". tourisme-alsace.com. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Reuss, Rodolphe (1897). Buillon, Émile (ed.). L'Alsace au dix-septième siècle : au point de vue géographique, historique, administratif, économique, social, intellectuel et religieux. (Tome I) (in French). Paris: Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études. p. 125. Retrieved 11 April 2015. In Wimmenau, a village with 30 bourgeois before the war, there were none from 1637 to 1655. (French: A Wimmenau, village qui comptait 30 bourgeois avant la guerre, il n'y a plus, depuis 1637 à 1655, un seul habitant.)
  7. ↑ Base Mérimée: IA67006889, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  8. ↑ Base Mérimée: IA67006893, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  9. 1 2 "Le village de Wimmenau". Annuaire Maire (in French). Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Wimmenau". Vin Vigne (in French). Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  11. 1 2 Évolution et structure de la population en 2017, INSEE
  12. ↑ "Plan Wimmenau". Mappy (in French). Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Voie 1 de la igne de Mommenheim à Sarreguemines". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "GARE SNCF de " SARREGUEMINES "". christophe.lachenal.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 January 2015. Le 01/05/1895, mise en service de la ligne de 69 km entre Mommenheim, Karlhausen et Sarralbe, par la Compagnie Alsace-Lorraine.
  15. ↑ "Fiche horaire 28" (PDF). TER Grand Est (in French). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Philippe Richert, celui qui sauva l'honneur de la majorité UMP aux régionales". LePoint.fr (in French). AFP. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2015. [He] grew up in a modest, working-class family in Wimmenau
  • Media related to Wimmenau at Wikimedia Commons
  • Wimmenau.fr (French) - Official website of the commune government
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