Lembach is a

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 ...

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, ...

and

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administr ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of north-eastern France.INSEE commune file
/ref>

Etymology

The toponym ''Lembach'' is of Germanic origin, cognate to modern German

Lehm Lehm may refer to: * Henrik Lehm (born 1960), Danish professional football manage * Lehm., author's abbreviation for Johann Lehmann, German entomologist *Lehm, the original surname in the family of Stanislaw Lem See also *Lehmann Lehmann is a Ge ...

, denoting ''clay''. The Germanic hydronym '' *-bak(i)'' entered the French language via High German, and took on two forms: the Germanic form ''-bach'' and Romantic ''-bais''.

Geography

Lembach lies in the

Sauer The Sauer ( German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Saue ...

valley, surrounded by the woods and sandstone cliffs of the

Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve The Franco- German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen, french: Réserve de biosphère transfrontalière des Vosges du Nord-Forêt palatine) was created in 1998 as the first UNESCO ...

. It is located on Departmental Road 3 which runs from

Wissembourg Wissembourg (; South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is situated on the little river Lauter close to the border between France and German ...

, 12 km to the east of Lembach, to the north-western tip of

and the onward route to

Bitche Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a commune in the Moselle department, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city and the seat of the Canton of Bitche and the communauté de ...

in the department of Moselle. The German frontier lies some 5 km to the north. In the village centre is a Protestant church dating from 1750 (but incorporating a tower from the late Medieval period) as well as a nineteenth-century Catholic church. The commune, which covers an extensive land area, much of it uninhabitable owing to the topography, also includes the small village of Mattstall and the hamlet of Pfaffenbronn.

Tourism

The spectacular scenery and the fortifications of past centuries, coupled with the limited possibilities for agriculture in the immediate area, make tourism a key source of employment. The presence in Lembach of a well regarded

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

restaurant has in recent years made the village something of a "centre of pilgrimage" for

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

s, many of whom cross the border from such nearby population centres as

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants ...

Germersheim Germersheim () is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsruhe and Wörth. Coat ...

, and Mannheim. Clearly marked footpaths, some of them leading to ruined fortifications or to picturesque rock faces, are promoted as another tourist attraction. The best known and most substantial of the medieval period fortifications is probably the Château du Fleckenstein. The commune also includes a section of the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force t ...

History

The extensive territory has often found itself a crossing-point between the French and German worlds in times both of peace and of war. In September 1972 the commune of Lembach was merged with the neighbouring village of Mattstall to the south. Mattstall retains the semi-independent status of an associated commune.

Notable people

* Author and doctor Paul Bertololy lived in Lembach and died there in 1972. (At the time of his birth at

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, a ...

in 1892, Lembach was a part of Germany, and German was the mother tongue in which Bertololy wrote.) * Claude-Hélène Perrot (1928-2019), historian and Africanist * Astronaut

Rusty Schweickart Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart (also Schweikart; born October 25, 1935) is an American aeronautical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut, research scientist, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, as well as a former business executive and governm ...

is the grandson of a couple who emigrated from Lembach to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. He has visited the village twice and given his name to one of its streets.

Landmarks

* Fleckenstein castle * Frœnsbourg castle * The extensive Maginot line fortifications, known as " Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux" * Lembach mill * Fleckensteins' manor (''Le manoir des Fleckenstein'') * Lembach farm and tile works (''La ferme et tuilerie de Lembach'')