Fouday (; german: Urbach; gsw-als, Fouda) is a
commune in the
Bas-Rhin department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Grand Est in north-eastern
France.
At the start of 1975 Fouday was merged with the neighboring settlements of
Waldersbach
Waldersbach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Population
People
* Jean-Frédéric Oberlin lived here until his death in 1820.
* Anne Knight, an early British feminist and abolitionist, died here ...
,
Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
and
Bellefosse
Bellefosse (; german: Schöngrund) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France, historically and culturally part of Alsace.
Geography
The village is located on a mountain terrace on the west slope of the in ...
: the resulting aggregation was called ''Ban-de-la-Roche'', recalling the historical territory
Ban de la Roche. The Vosgean mountain village recovered its independence at the start of 1992; it has been incorporated into various administrative structures in recent decades and is currently one of 26 communes included in the .
Geography
Fouday lies in the
Bruche valley, on the right bank, at the river's confluence with the little river Chirgoutte (or Schirgoutte) surrounded by pastures and forests, and dominated by Mont Saint-Jean.
The village is served by the
National Road (Route nationale) 420 which connects
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
with
Saint-Dié. The town is also traversed by the
railway line - here just a single track - that connects these two urban centres. The mountain topography of the region keeps the road and railway running in close parallel along the Bruche Valley.
History
Fouday was part of the ancient lordship of
Ban de la Roche along with the surrounding settlements of Waldersbach, Solbach, Belmont and Bellefosse.
The first surviving written record of the village dates from the fourteenth century, when it appeared in the records as Urbach. However, the village clearly existed by the end of the twelfth century, since the church building dates from that time.
During the late medieval period, the village church was a stage along the pilgrim route to
Mont Sainte-Odile
, photo = Ottrott Mont Sainte-Odile.JPG
, photo_caption = Mont Sainte-Odile and the Monastery
, elevation_m = 764
, elevation_ref = Official maps of IGN available on the ''Géoportail''.
, prominence_m =
, prominence_ref=
, range = Vos ...
in
Lorraine across the
Vosges Mountains to the west. Evidence for this comes from the fifteenth century depiction of St. James in the old choir of the church. The church also contains a carved head of
John the Baptist recalling the
Baptist's demise: the carved head is the subject of a local pilgrimage tradition which still survives.
Despite the endurance of the pilgrimage tradition, the village joined the
Protestant Reformation at the time of Pastor Marmet during the 1570s. Effectively all the villages within the Ban de la Roche became Protestant
when the lands were sold by the
Rathsamhausen family to the German
Count Palatine, George John of
Veldenz in the sixteenth century.
The village was the birthplace of
Tommy Fallot (1844–1904), a Lutheran pastor who is considered the founder of
Social Christianity in France.
See also
*
Communes of the Bas-Rhin department
References
Communes of Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{BasRhin-geo-stub