Wingen-sur-Moder (; german: Wingen an der Moder;

Rhine Franconian __NOTOC__ Rhenish Franconian or Rhine Franconian (german: Rheinfränkisch ) is a dialect chain of West Central German. It comprises the varieties of German spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, north ...

: ''Winge'') 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, ...

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 It superseded three former administrat ...

in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The name, literally translated as "Wingen on the Moder", is often shortened to ''Wingen'', although this is the name of a small commune in the Haguenau-Wissembourg arrondissement.

History

The location of Wingen-sur-Moder was the site of a village of the

Triboci In classical antiquity, the Triboci or Tribocci were a Germanic people of eastern Gaul, inhabiting much of what is now Alsace. Name Besides the forms Triboci and Tribocci, Schneider has the form “Triboces” in the accusative plural. Pliny has ...

tribe. Part of the borders of the village are marked by

menhirs A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...

, including three named menhirs which still exist: Spitzstein, Drei-Peterstein, and Breitenstein. The first known mention of Wingen is in 718, when ''Wingibergus'' is mentioned in documents donated to Weissenburg Abbey. The village is also mentioned in 742 as ''Wigone Monte'' and in the twelfth century as ''Winchenhoven''. The fourteenth century saw many conflicts affect the town. In 1314, soldiers of the Imperial City of Strasbourg burned Wingen and several nearby towns during their march towards

La Petite-Pierre La Petite-Pierre (; german: Lützelstein; Rhine Franconian: ''Lítzelstain'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies in the historical and cultural region of Alsace (Elsass in German). Petit-Pierre ...

, a nearby village that was home to one of the lords aligned against Strasbourg. In 1382, the Count of Linange made Wingen a

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...

and granted it to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

. The town lies along an important travel route between the Moder and Eichel valleys during this period and the emperor began to toll travel through the town. The

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

and an outbreak of

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

devastated Wingen and the surrounding region in the early seventeenth century, leaving the town uninhabited. In the wake of the war, the town was repopulated primarily by Swiss immigrants. The eighteenth century brought the introduction of Wingen's most important industry:

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

. Master glassblowers from neighboring

Rosteig Rosteig () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes coopera ...

built shops in the hamlets of Neuhütte in 1708 and Hochberg in 1715. However, it was not until 1922 that the largest and most famous glassmaker arrived in Wingen. In that year, famous French glass designer

René Lalique René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments. Life Lalique's ...

opened the ''Verrerie d'Alsace'' (Alsace glassworks) glassworks in Wingen; it became the ''Cristallerie Lalique'' (Lalique Crystal Works) in 1962. It is the only glass production facility of the ''

Lalique Lalique is a French glassmaker, founded by renowned glassmaker and jeweller René Lalique in 1888. Lalique is best known for producing glass art, including perfume bottles, vases, and hood ornaments during the early twentieth century. Following t ...

'' company, which he founded.

Battle of Wingen-sur-Moder

In early January 1945, Wingen was the location of a minor, but strategically important battle between German and American forces. On New Year's Eve, Germany launched a surprise offensive—

Operation Nordwind Operation Northwind (german: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by December ...

—in northern Alsace. At the start of the offensive, Wingen was controlled by Allied forces and a modest number of soldiers from the

Seventh United States Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...

were positioned near the town. At dawn on 4 January, two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s of the German 6th SS Mountain Division ''Nord'' managed to quickly capture Wingen. Over 200 American soldiers positioned in the town were caught off guard, captured, and held captive in the Catholic church and a nearby house without food or water until they were liberated on 7 January. The two sides fought house-to-house for the ensuing three days until the Germans retreated in the early hours of 7 January. The fighting damaged nearly every building in Wingen.

Heritage sites

Two national heritage sites (''monuments historiques'' or MH) are located in Wingen-sur-Moder. The Teutsch house (French: ''Château Teutsch'') was constructed by the Teutsch family between 1860-1866. Starting in 1816, the Teutsch family owned and operated the Hochberg glass factory, which was in decline at the time the house was built and closed in 1868. The house was restored in 1990 and its exterior facade and roof have been registered as a monument historique since 1996. The interior has been completely redesigned and now serves as a summer camp. The former Hochberg glassworks (French: ''Verrerie du Hochberg''; also known as ''Hanauer-Glashütte'') was founded in 1715 by Jean-Adam Stenger. The site was registered as a monument historique in 1996 and consists of workshops, two large residences, and worker housing. The glassworks also include the Teutsch House, which is registered as a separate historic monument. The Lalique Museum, opened in 2011, is located on the site of the former Hochberg glassworks.

Geography

The town of Wingen-sur-Moder lies in the upper valley of the Moder at an elevation of . The commune covers , of which more than 80% is covered by forest. It is one of many communes that are located within the

Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park The Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord'') is a protected area of woodland, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the region Grand Est in northeastern France. The area was officially de ...

. The commune includes the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s Huhnerscherr, Kohlhutte, and Stauffersberg.

Population

Transport

Wingen-sur-Moder has a railway station, which is located along the Mommenheim-

Sarreguemines Sarreguemines (; German: ''Saargemünd'' , Lorraine Franconian: ''Saargemìnn'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of an arrondissement and a canton. As of t ...

railway line, which connects the cities of

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 ...

, France and

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, Germany. The rail line was built during German rule by the General Division of the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine; the section through Wingen-sur-Moder opened 1 May 1895.

TER Grand Est TER Grand Est or TER Fluo is the regional rail network serving the region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2016 from the previous TER networks TER Alsace, TER Lorra ...

, a ''Train Express Régional'' operated by

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

, serves the Wingen-sur-Moder station. The town lies along Route D919, which runs from

Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...

to Sarreguemines and connects Wingen to other communities along the Moder Valley. Route D256 runs north from the town through the northern part of the commune to the Moselle border, where it continues north as D37 to

Bitche Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments of France, department, administrative regions of France, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It ...

. Route D135 travels south from the town to

Twin city

The town is a

twin town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Burgkirchen an der Alz Burgkirchen an der Alz is a municipality in the district of Altötting, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Alz The Alz () is a river in Bavaria, southern Germany, the only discharge of the Chiemsee. Its origin is on the northern ...

, in southeastern Germany.