commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...
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 had ...
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 area ...
Goxwiller is effectively a one-street village between flat arable land to one side and southward sloping vineyards to the other. It has become known for
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
and for traditional artisanal trades such as carpentry, clog making,
leather tanning
Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed.
Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, makin ...
and
book binding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
.
In recent decades aspects of the village have been sensitively renovated in order to encourage the tourist trade: the eighteenth century former bakery, which had fallen into disrepair, has been acquired by the local commune and is once again able to bake bread and Flammkuchen, albeit only on special occasions.
History
From earliest times, Goxwiller and the neighbouring commune of Bourgheim comprised a single entity for administrative purposes both civil and ecclesiastical: the heraldic shield depicts two linked rings in order to symbolise this ancient union
First mentioned in 920 (initially as Getenesvillare, then as Gokesvilre, Gotesviller and finally as Goxwiller) the village was under the control of various abbeys during the medieval period, the last of these being the Abbey of Niedermunster to which Goxwiller was enfeoffed until 1522. From then until
1789
Events
January–March
* January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet '' What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution.
* January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential electio ...
Goxwiller, along with the entire Lordship of
Barr Barr may refer to:
Places
* Barr (placename element), element of place names meaning 'wooded hill', 'natural barrier'
* Barr, Ayrshire, a village in Scotland
* Barr Building (Washington, DC), listed on the US National Register of Historic Places
...
of which it by then formed a part, came under the authority of the city of Strasbourg. The early modern period was one of much warring and destruction across
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 had ...
, but the nineteenth century was one of relative tranquility and growing prosperity: Goxwiller was one of several communes to benefit from the growth of
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...