Wasselonne (; ) 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 ...

based 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 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 ...

, more precisely, in the

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 It superseded three former administra ...

region. The oldest firm of unleavened bread in

Etablissements René Neymann Etablissement René Neymann is a French company founded in 1850 that makes matzah and unleavened bread. It is the oldest company of unleavened bread operating in France. The general manager is Jean-Claude Neymann, who represents the 5th generation ...

, is located in this town.

Population

Geography

Wasselonne is located in the Mossig valley, in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

foothills, near the Alsace Wine Route. The town train station is nowadays closed. A bicycle path has been built in th eplace of the former railway.

History

In Roman times, Wasselonne was a vicus populated by 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 ha ...

. The village was situated on the Durenberg hill and the left bank of the Mossig. In the

Merovingian period The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

, Wasselonne prospered thanks to its proximity to Kirchheim, where a large and popular royal residence was established. During the 7th and 8th centuries, Wasselonne was certainly densely populated. At the beginning of the 15th century, Wasselonne Castle was described as one of the most important fortresses in Lower Alsace. It was the seat of the bailiwick of Wasselonne. The stones used for its construction were extracted from the pink

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

quarries of the Kronthal, identical to those used for the construction of

Strasbourg cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

. In 1447, the Wasselonne War (1446-1448) pitted the Grand Chapter of Strasbourg against William, Count of

Fénétrange Fénétrange (; , Lorraine Franconian: ''Finschtinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Fénétrange is located near the border between the Moselle department and the Alsace bossue. The rive ...

and Walther von Dahn, who held the imperial fiefdom of Wasselonne from 1425 to 1483. Wasselonne was besieged and taken by the latter, then recaptured by Strasbourg troops who set fire to the castle in 1448. The conflict officially ended when Walther von Dahn sold the castle and the village to the city of Strasbourg, in 1496, for 7,000

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

. Between 1811 and 1919, Wasselonne was the second largest

tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

centre in the Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg being the first one. It was overtaken by

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 ...

during the next decades. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, eleven Jewish people from Wasselonne were deported by the Nazis and never returned from the extermination camps. To this list should be added the Protestant Henri Roederer who died in 1943. The only Jewish survivor of the camps is Jean Samuel, who died in 2010. He deported to the

Auschwitz extermination camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

with the writer

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

, who made him the character of Pikolo in his book ''

If This Is a Man ''If This Is a Man'' ( it, Se questo è un uomo ; United States title: ''Survival in Auschwitz'') is a memoir by Italian Jewish writer Primo Levi, first published in 1947. It describes his arrest as a member of the Italian anti-fascist resis ...

.''

Monuments

Wasselonne is known for its castle, which has been partially destroyed in 1674. The remains of this munument, a big circular tower and a square tower, can still be seen nowadays.

Population

Geography

History

Monuments

See also