Ferrette (; german: Pfirt ; gsw-FR, Pfìrt) is a commune in the
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it ha ...
in north-eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
.
It is situated close to the Swiss border. Its main attraction is the Château de Ferrette.
County of Ferrette
The County of Ferrette came into existence in the 11th century and consisted of a large part of southern
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it ha ...
Albert II, Duke of Austria
Albert II (12 December 1298 – 16 August 1358), known as ''the Wise'' or ''the Lame'', a member of the House of Habsburg, was duke of Austria and Styria from 1330, as well as duke of Carinthia and margrave of Carniola from 1335 until his de ...
. The County was part of the dowry for
Catherine of Burgundy
Catharine of Burgundy ( Montbard, 1378 – Dijon, 26 January 1425) was the second daughter of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Margaret III, Countess of Flanders. She was Duchess of Further Austria.
She was married on 15 August 1393 wit ...
upon her marriage to Duke Leopold IV.Richard Vaughan, ''Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy'', (The Boydell Press, 2002), 31. Upon Leopold's death in 1411, his brother, Frederick occupied Ferrette. Austria ceded it to France in the
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...