Sélestat (; Alsatian: ''Schlettstàdt'';

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Schlettstadt'') 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

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 It superseded three former administra ...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 of

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 ...

. An administrative division ( sous-préfecture) of 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, the town lies on the

Ill ILL may refer to: * '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibra ...

river, from the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

border. Sélestat is located between the largest communes of

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 ...

, Strasbourg and

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

. In 2019, Sélestat had a total population of 19,242, which makes it the eighth most populous town in Alsace. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

it was the third largest city in the region, after Strasbourg and Colmar, and it is ranked the third commune in Alsace for cultural heritage. Sélestat was founded in the 8th century as a port on the Ill and it experienced a long period of prosperity thanks to the trade in wine and a thriving religious and cultural life. It gradually declined after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and the French conquest in the 17th century. The town eventually experienced a new demographic growth in the second half of the 20th century when it became a small industrial and cultural centre. Thanks to its rich heritage, which includes the renowned Humanist Library and an imposing pair of medieval churches, Sélestat is an important tourist destination in Alsace. It also benefits from its location on the Alsace wine road and its proximity to Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle. Aside from the medieval old town, the commune of Sélestat encompasses a nature reserve including one of the largest

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered chann ...

s of France.

Name

The present name of the town is a

Frenchification Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by mor ...

of the original Germanic name. It appeared soon after the French conquest in the 17th century. The town is called ''Schlettstàdt'' () in Alsatian and () in

. Sélestat was first mentioned in 727 as ''Sclastat''.. It was mentioned as ''Scalistati'' in 775, as ''Slectistat'' in 881, as ''Sclezistat'' in 884 and as ''Slezestat'' in 1095. The current German name, ''Schlettstadt'', appeared in 1310, although various spellings can be noticed on posterior documents, such as ''Schlestat'', ''Schletstat'' and ''Schlettstat''. The French administration used various forms from the 17th to the 19th century, such as Frenchified (''Sélestat'', ''Sélestadt'') and Germanic (''Schlestadt'', ''Schelestadt''). The town was officially known as ''Schlettstadt'' between 1871 and 1919, when

was part of the German Empire. Since 1920, the town's French name is fixed as Sélestat. The origin of the name "Schlettstadt" is unclear. It probably derives from Germanic words ''slade'' or ''sclade'' meaning "marshes", and ''stat'' for "city". Sélestat would then be a "city in the marshes", a reference to its position in the

Grand Ried {{more citations needed, date=September 2014 The Grand Ried is an Alsace, Alsatian natural region which is part of the Ried (natural region), Ried. It shows landscapes typical of the Ried. To the west, it is delimited by the Ill (France), Ill, ...

, a vast area subject to flooding that stretches over the centre of Alsace. ''Stat'' could also mean "area" rather than "city". A popular myth explains that the town takes its name from a dragon called ''Schletto'' that founded the settlement after opening up the nearby

Lièpvre Lièpvre (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. A monastery was built here in the eighth century by Saint Fulrad, who filled it with relics of Saint Cucuphas and Saint Alexander. Geography The mun ...

valley in the

Vosges mountains 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 ...

History

Birth of the town

Sélestat was first mentioned in 727 AD but the town probably has an earlier Celtic or Roman origin.. Archaeological findings provide evidence of human settlement during the Mesolithic, the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

and the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. A large number of wood piles dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD were discovered around St. Quirin chapel, suggesting a Roman settlement. At that time Sélestat might have already been a port on the river Ill.. When Sélestat started to appear in written documents in the 8th century, it may have been a market town or simply a village populated by fishermen and farmers. The area was part of the estate of Eberhard, a member of the Alsatian ducal family, who donated it to

Murbach Abbey Murbach Abbey (french: Abbaye de Murbach) was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges. The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established ...

at the end of his life. In 775,

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

spent Christmas in Sélestat, which indicates that the town must have had enough appropriate buildings and population to accommodate his court and troops. In the 1080s, Sélestat was the property of Hildegard von Eguisheim, mother of

Frederick I, Duke of Swabia Frederick I (c. 1050 – 1105) before 21 July was Duke of Swabia from 1079 to his death, the first ruler from the House of Hohenstaufen (''Staufer''). Life Frederick was the son of Frederick of Büren (c. 1020–1053), Count in the Riesgau and ...

, the first member of the

House of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

. Hildegard transformed the place into a religious centre when she founded St. Faith's Church, which she gave to the Benedictines of Conques Abbey. Monks from Conques opened a priory next to the church in 1092. The

quickly became the leading dynasty of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, which came to the imperial throne in 1152. Being under their protection, the priory of Sélestat strongly influenced local life. Even though Sélestat constituted a distinct parish, its priest had only limited power and the Benedictine prior was the true head of the municipality. At the end of the 12th century, the Hohenstaufen dynasty gradually lost power and as a result the priory started to decline. The citizens used this opportunity to reduce the prior's dominance. and secure the power of their parish. They started to build a new parish church in the 1220s. St. George's Church was designed in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

and was significantly larger than St. Faith's Church, another way to signify the end of Benedictine hegemony..

Free imperial city

Wapen 1545 Schletstat (Schlettstadt, Sélestat)

Frederick II, ruler of the

in the 13th century, realised that his dynasty was losing its power and granted freedoms to many cities in order to keep their allegiance. These cities became

Free imperial cities In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

and Sélestat became one of them in 1217. Under the new status Sélestat was able to build city walls and collect taxes on its own. Its serfs and settlers were freed. The German monarch Adolf of Nassau granted Sélestat a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

in 1292. It was amended many times but it regulated local politics until 1789. Although the new status favoured trade and prosperity, free cities in

were afraid that they would not be defended by imperial forces if a conflict was to occur. So they decided to form an alliance called the

Decapolis The Decapolis (Greek: grc, Δεκάπολις, Dekápolis, Ten Cities, label=none) was a group of ten Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BCE and CE. They formed a group ...

in 1354, which comprised ten cities: ( Haguenau, Colmar,

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 Germany a ...

Turckheim Turckheim (; Alsatian: Tercka; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies west of Colmar, on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. History Archeological finds indicate the area was alrea ...

Obernai Obernai ( Alsatian: ''Owernah''; german: Oberehnheim) commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. Obernai is a rapidly growing city, its number of inhabitants hav ...

Kaysersberg Kaysersberg (german: Kaisersberg ; Alsatian: ''Kaiserschbarig'') is a historical town and former commune in Alsace in northeastern France. The name is German for ''Emperor's Mountain''. The high fortress that dominates the town serves as a remi ...

Rosheim Rosheim (; gsw-FR, Rose) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies southwest of Strasbourg, on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. It is a winemaking town on the tourist "Road of the Wines ...

, Munster, Sélestat and Mulhouse). The seat of the alliance was in Haguenau but its archives were kept in Sélestat. Because the town was the most centrally located, it often hosted meetings of the association.. The

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

priory was closed in 1424 after many years of decline. It had long lost its power to the local nobility that were gradually replaced by the bourgeoisie in the mid-14th century. Nevertheless, Sélestat remained a religious centre even after the closing of the priory. Convents were established in the 13th century by Dominicans,

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

and

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. Several abbeys located outside of the town also had a residence in town. At the beginning of the 16th century, Sélestat was a noted centre of

Renaissance humanism Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

thanks to its celebrated Latin school. Reformers

Beatus Rhenanus Beatus Rhenanus (22 August 148520 July 1547), born as Beatus Bild, was a German humanist, religious reformer, classical scholar, and book collector. Early life and education Rhenanus was born on the 22 August 1485 in Schlettstadt (Sélestat) ...

and Martin Bucer were among the school's alumni. This school helped spread

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

ideas among the population, although the local authorities remained faithful to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Erasmus of Rotterdam Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

visited Sélestat four times between 1515 and 1522.. Being a free city, Sélestat attracted settlers from the region who sought protection, freedom and a thriving economic environment. The first city wall, which had become too constricting, was replaced in 1280, and a third wall had to be erected in the 16th century as the city grew. At the end of the

, the population was estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000. It was then the fourth largest Alsatian town after Strasbourg (18,000), Colmar and Haguenau (6,000 each).. The local economy reached its zenith around 1500.. It was centered on shipping and trade (mainly hay, cereals, wine, fish, glass, iron and salt). As the road network was poor and dangerous, goods transited via the

river.

Decline

The decline of the town started in the 1520s, when the humanist school lost its former influence. The troubles surrounding the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

brought instability and unrest to the region. The town experienced the German Peasants' War in 1525 and its convents were sacked by a mob in 1534.. During the same period Sélestat lost its pre-eminence in the Decapolis because the city of Mulhouse left the alliance in 1515 and was replaced by

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

in 1521, moving the geographical centre of the alliance to the north.. During the 17th century, Alsace was one of the main battlefields of the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

. Sélestat was seized by the Swedes in 1632 after a month-long siege. They surrendered the town to their French allies two years later. The local population long remained predominantly faithful to the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) formalised the annexation of the Decapolis by France.. Sélestat was briefly occupied by the Germans during the Franco-Dutch War in 1674.. The

Treaties of Nijmegen The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republi ...

(1679) that ended the war also abolished the Decapolis. At first, Sélestat was a major strategic stronghold for the French. Located near the

, it controlled the access to the Vosges mountains and the rest of France. Vauban, the foremost military architect at that time, rebuilt the town walls between 1675 and 1691. However, after the conquest of Strasbourg in 1681 Sélestat lost much of its strategic importance, as Strasbourg was better located. But it remained a garrison town, and the troops stationed there helped to improve the faltering local economy. Although Protestantism was not forbidden in

, French authorities largely encouraged Catholicism and opened three new convents in Sélestat.. Jews were expelled from the town in 1642.. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

the population was extremely conservative and opposed to change.. The new territorial organisation confirmed the decline of the town, which did not become a prefecture and was not distinguished as a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

until 1806, when it replaced

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 ...

in that capacity.. Sélestat suffered from the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

as it was besieged and bombed by the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

ns in 1814 and blockaded by a German coalition in 1815..

Since 1815

Industry appeared very early in Sélestat. The town had already several factories at the beginning of the 19th century: a tilery, a sawmill, 12 tanneries and 11 mills. Sélestat quickly became specialised in wire gauze making but it never became a large industrial centre, remaining a small town with limited influence.. The completion of the Strasbourg-

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

railway (1840), one of the first to be built in France, did not lead to significant urban development. The town walls that still encircled the town were a significant factor in its economic and demographic stagnation. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870,

and a part of Lorraine were annexed by the new German Empire. The German authorities demolished the city walls in 1874 and built new spacious neighbourhoods around the old town, as they did in Strasbourg and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

.. Sélestat became French again after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which almost a thousand inhabitants died. It was part of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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 ...

. Its liberation took three months and ended in February 1945. The town is a recipient of the '' War Cross 1914–1918'' and '' War Cross 1939–1945''.. Sélestat has experienced steady demographic and economic growth since 1945. Its population almost doubled between 1946 and 1999 and two industrial parks were built to accommodate new large factories. The service industry has enriched the town's economy since the 1970s with a large number of small businesses.. South of the town, at , a large broadcasting facility was used for transmitting on 1161 kHz and 1278 kHz in the medium-wave range. It was opened in 1948 and ceased to emit on 1 January 2016.

Governance

Sélestat is one of the six subprefectures of the

departement. As such it is at the head of the Sélestat-

Erstein Erstein (, ; gsw, label= Alemannic, Eerstain) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department, in the region of Grand Est, France. History An important necropolis from the Merovingian era (6th-7th century) has been excavated near Erstein in 1999– ...

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

. Sélestat is also the administrative centre of a canton including 28 other

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

which primarily serve as a constituency for local elections. Sélestat is part of the 5th Bas-Rhin constituency for national elections. Since 2002, the Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for the constituency has been the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Antoine Herth. Sélestat is a member of a federation of communes with shared competencies: the Communauté de communes de Sélestat. Sélestat is its main town, and it includes 11 neighbouring villages. It was created in 1995 to replace an older but similar structure founded in 1969. Sélestat is also the seat of the Central Alsace ''

pays In France, a ''pays'' () is an area whose inhabitants share common geographical, economic, cultural, or social interests, who have a right to enter into communal planning contracts under a law known as the Loi Pasqua or LOADT (''Loi d'Orientation ...

'', a structure aiming at developing the area. The town has had a council since 1292, when it was granted a

under the

. The constitution shaped the local political system until the

of 1789. Since then, the town has been administered as all the other

communes of France The () is a level of administrative divisions, administrative division in the France, French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipality, municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in ...

. Its council currently comprises 33 councillors, whose number is defined by law according to the size of the population. The town also has a mayor elected by the councillors.

in general is a stronghold of the French

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

. The main French right-wing party, The Republicans, currently holds a large majority in the council (26 councillors). Marcel Bauer, who has been mayor since 2001, is also a member of that party. Voters in Sélestat generally favour right-wing candidates at other elections as well, although Sélestat was governed by the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

between 1989 and 2001.

Geography

Sélestat is located at the very centre of

, near the limit separating the

and

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

departments, which traditionally correspond to Lower and Upper Alsace, respectively. The town is located between Strasbourg and

, the first being north and the latter south of the city. Sélestat is also located between

() and Colmar (). On the other side of the

, Freiburg im Breisgau is around distant. Sélestat lies on the Alsace plains, a narrow, very fertile area that stretches between the

and the

. The

flows parallel to the Rhine and crosses Sélestat. This river frequently branches and swells, making the area very wet and subject to flooding. Sélestat is only from the Vosges,. at the opening of one of the rare valleys crossing the mountain range and providing a connection to the rest of

.. This valley corresponds to the course of the Giessen, a long tributary of the Ill. In contrast to the Ill, which has a constant annual flow, the Giessen is a mountain river subject to sudden increases in the water level, especially during the spring thaw period. The Giessen passes north of the town and meets the Ill several kilometers to the east, in

Ebersmunster Ebersmunster (german: Ebersmünster) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is famous for its 1727 baroque church, a work by Vorarlberg architect Peter Thumb. Population See also *Communes of the Bas- ...

.. The town itself is built on the Giessen

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

so it is slightly higher than the rest of the Alsace plains. Much of its territory is however located on areas liable to flooding. Such areas are mostly located inside the Illwald natural reserve and comprise both forests and meadows. There the Ill forms more than of waterways.. File:Quai de l'Ill, Sélestat.JPG, The Ill in Sélestat. File:Oberriedgraben.JPG, The Oberriedgraben in the Illwald. File:Schiffwasser, Sélestat.JPG, The Schiffwasser in the Illwald. File:Giessen, Sélestat.JPG, The Giessen.

Transport

Despite its small size, Sélestat is well connected to transport networks. Alsace as a whole, being part of the economic heart of Europe, has a high road and railway density. The town is served by the

A35 autoroute The A35 autoroute is a toll free motorway in northeastern France. It is also known as the ''Autoroute des cigognes'' and the ''Voie Rapide du Piémont des Vosges''. It connects the German border in the Rhine valley with the Swiss frontier vi ...

, a motorway that crosses

north to south, connecting Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse. Further south it connects to the Swiss A3 motorway, and further north to the German B9 highway. Taken together, these three roads connect the Netherlands to Austria. Sélestat is also located at one of the seven crossings of the Vosges mountains, connecting

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

to Alsace and Germany. Sélestat train station was opened in 1840, which makes it one of the oldest in France. It lies on the Strasbourg–Basel railway, which also serves Colmar, Mulhouse and Saint-Louis.. Sélestat is at the terminus of two local railways that are partly closed: Sélestat- Lesseux, now ending in

, and Sélestat-

Saverne Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (2 ...

, now ending in

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

. The former railway runs towards the west through 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 ...

, while the latter runs towards the northwest. A third local line, Sélestat- Sundhouse, closed in 1953. Although one of the oldest in France, the Strasbourg-Basel railway allows high speed travel of () because it is very rectilinear and crosses a very flat landscape. Sélestat is served by all

regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are public transport, passenger rail transport, rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail ...

between Strasbourg and

(one train in each direction every hour on weekdays). Local trains also run between Sélestat and

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

, Sélestat and Strasbourg and Sélestat and

.. Sélestat is served by a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

-Colmar

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

every day in each direction, by Strasbourg-

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

and Strasbourg-

Cerbère Cerbère (; ca, Cervera de la Marenda) is a commune and railway town in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

in the summer, and by EuroCity trains connecting Zurich to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

. SNCF and the

council operate coach lines between Sélestat and

Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (; ; Alsatian: ''Màrkìrisch'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Geography Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines is located in the massif of the Vosges Mountains, where it occupie ...

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; german: Sankt Didel), commonly referred to as just Saint-Dié, is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is located in th ...

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. Its inhabitants are called ''Ribeauvillois''. Geography The ...

, Marckolsheim, Sundhouse and

Villé Villé (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas re ...

. The council also arranges for seasonal connections with Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle and

Europa Park Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbourg (in neighbouring Franc ...

. Sélestat and its

communauté de communes A ''communauté de communes'' (, "community of communes") is a federation of municipalities (communes) in France. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together. It is the least-integrated form of ''intercommunalité'' (in ...

have their own local bus network, the "Transport intercommunal de Sélestat" (TIS). It comprises two lines, one connecting Châtenois to Ebersheim, and the other Scherwiller to Muttersholtz. These two lines make several stops in Sélestat proper, which is at the centre of the network.

Demography

, Sélestat had 19,242 inhabitants.Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2019
INSEE It is the 8th most populated

in Alsace, having reached its maximum population in 2006, with 19,459 inhabitants. The oldest preserved birth registries of the town's Catholic

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

go back to the year 1608; the oldest

vital record Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses (or marriage certificates), separation agreements, divorce certificates or divorce party and death certificates. In som ...

s (''état civil'') go back to the year 1793. Sélestat was one of the largest towns in the region from the

until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1801, it was still the third most populous in Alsace behind Strasbourg and Colmar. It then had 7,375 inhabitants, a slightly higher figure than for Mulhouse (7,197) and Haguenau (7,009). Through the 19th century, Sélestat did not take advantage of industrialisation and

rural exodus Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in the ...

because its city wall and military function prevented urban growth. It reached its overpopulation threshold around 1830, with around 10,000 inhabitants living on only .. Only after the

did Sélestat experience significant demographic growth, almost doubling its population in 50 years. However, this growth was not strong enough for Sélestat to recover its previous rank. The demographic growth that occurred in Sélestat after 1945 was primarily due to a relatively high birth rate (20.1‰ in Sélestat over the period 1968–1975, compared to 16.9‰ in France). After 1975, this rate progressively declined to match the national figure. Net migration figures remained slightly negative until 1990Dossier complet, Commune de Sélestat (67462)
INSEE because Sélestat and Central Alsace were on the margins of the metropolitan areas of Strasbourg and Colmar and lacked attractivity. Since 1990, the Strasbourg area greatly expanded to gradually reach Sélestat. The town has thus become more attractive to newcomers. The population of Sélestat is relatively young, 36.2% of the population were under 30 in 2017 (France: 35.7%) and the percentage of people over 60 years old (23.6%) was lower than the national (25.5%) figure. Sélestat has a significant proportion of people between 15 and 44 (39.7%, compared to 36.4% for all of France) because it attracts a large number of young actives and couples starting a family. As other towns in the region, such as

, Haguenau and

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

, it welcomes young adults and encourages them to settle in the surrounding villages..

Economy

At the end of 2015, Sélestat had 2,142 businesses, most of them (1,441) in the tertiary sector. A large share were small businesses; only 9% had more than 10 employees. Sélestat is a retail and services centre for the whole Central Alsace, with a large shopping park and administrative and educational institutions.. Industry is nonetheless represented by some large firms, such as the ''Société alsacienne de meubles'', which builds kitchens and bathrooms under a Schmidt and Cuisinella franchise, Amcor (aluminium packaging), Daramic (battery separators), Albany (gauzes for the printing industry), Wanzl (warehouse material), and DHJ (textiles).. Most of the large factories are in an industrial estate located south of the town centre. Created in the 1930s, it covers a site of ... The newer commercial estate north of the town was developed in the 1970s and is dedicated to retail and cottage industry. It covers .. The town centre is also an important shopping area with more than 200 businesses..

Sights and culture

In terms of architecture the city is one of the richest and most varied among the smaller cities of Alsace. Although it is only the 8th most populous town in the region, it has the third largest cultural heritage after Strasbourg and Colmar. Sélestat has 35

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and 119 additional sites that are indexed in the French list of cultural heritage monuments.

Museums

Bibliothèque humaniste de Sélestat 21 janvier 2014-99

The Humanist Library displays one of the oldest and most homogeneous collections of medieval manuscripts and Renaissance books in Europe. Its core is the still almost intact library of

, which was bequeathed to the city and has been maintained by it ever since. The institution also holds the books that belonged to the Latin school of Sélestat, at which Rhenanus and many other reformers were educated around 1500. In 2011, the library has been inscribed in the

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

. The library is open to both researchers and tourists, with an exhibition displaying some of its most noteworthy items: an 8th-century lectionary, the first books printed in

, a copy of the ''

Cosmographiae Introductio ''Cosmographiae Introductio'' ("Introduction to Cosmography"; Saint-Dié, 1507) is a book that was published in 1507 to accompany Martin Waldseemüller's printed globe and wall-map (''Universalis Cosmographia''). The book and map contain the fi ...

'' where the oldest mention of America can be found, and a 1521 document which contains the oldest record of a Christmas tree. Sélestat also has a museum dedicated to bread and baking and it is the seat of the FRAC d'Alsace, a regional institution whose aim is to collect contemporary works of art (see below, Cultural institutions and events). These works are regularly part of temporary exhibits in Sélestat and other places in Alsace. FRAC possesses works by Aurélie Nemours,

Olivier Debré Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter. Biography It was following a visit to Pablo Picasso’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figura ...

Mario Merz Mario Merz (1 January 1925 – 9 November 2003) was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz. Life Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' antif ...

and Panamarenko, among other artists.

Religious architecture

Sélestat has two large and remarkable churches from the

. St. Faith's Church is the oldest and a prime example of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

. Its design is related to similar buildings both in the

region and in

. It was built during the second half of the 12th century to replace an earlier building.. The church was renovated in the 19th century and a medieval

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...

was found during this work. It is often attributed to Hildegard of Eguisheim, founder of the church, and is now displayed in a crypt.. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. It is often referred to as "the cathedral" because of its size, but it has never been the seat of a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

. Its construction started soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, save for a Romanesque side portal. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. It is illuminated by 288 stained glass panels, of which 55 date from the 15th century.. Most of the convents of the town have disappeared; the Dominican convent is the only one to have retained much of its original appearance. It was built in the 13th century and still has its church and cloister... The

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

convent was completely destroyed, apart from the choir of its church, which now serves as a Protestant church.. Sélestat also has an old granary that belonged to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

priory, and a 16th-century commandery built by the

.. The synagogue was built in 1890. Its architecture is typical of the region, with a square shape and discreet neo-romanesque ornaments. Its

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

was destroyed in 1940 by the Nazis and never rebuilt. The Jewish cemetery, located outside the old town, was opened in 1622. It has several 18th century gravestones showing a Christian artistic influence.. File:Inconnue de Sélestat.JPG, The death mask in St. Faith's. File:Saint George's Church of Sélestat.jpg, St. George's Church. File:Sélestat StGeorges182.JPG, Stained-glass windows in St. George's. File:Sélestat EgliseProt 05.JPG, The Protestant church. File:Synagogue de Sélestat.JPG, The synagogue.

Civil and military architecture

The old town comprises a large number of medieval and Renaissance buildings. The ''quai des Tanneurs'' ("

tanners Tanners may refer to: * Tanners (company), a British wine company * Tanners, Virginia, an unincorporated community located in Madison County, United States * Jerald and Sandra Tanner, opponents of the LDS Church (Mormons) * Leatherhead F.C., a fo ...

' quay") is one of the most picturesque streets in Alsace. A stream used to flow in the middle of the street until the beginning of the 20th century, the relic of a former noxious-smelling trade, since

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 ...

required large amounts of flowing water for treating and washing animal skins. Most of the old tanner houses date back to the

and have a tall attic to provide a ventilated space for drying leather.. In the neighbouring streets, ''rue des Oies'' ("

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

street") and ''rue des Veaux'' ("

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

street"), many houses were covered with a coat of plaster in the 19th century in order to hide the timbering, which was considered too rustic. Several hôtels particuliers (large townhouses) date from the

. Most of them have oriel windows that are characteristic of German Renaissance architecture. The grandest of these hôtels belonged to the

abbey and it has a large three-story granary. The Ziegler house has a beautiful oriel that shows the interest of the elite of that time in Antiquity. The oriel partly reflects Vitruvius's architectural legacy and displays the portraits of four key figures of Antiquity.

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...

is visible on some later hôtels dating from the 17th and 18th century. French classical architecture and its main feature, the mansard roof, were largely employed in the 18th century. To reduce costs, buildings were still built with timber framing, but as this technique was considered too Germanic and rustic, they were often covered with a rendering imitating stone.. Sélestat quTanneurs a

The German period (1871–1918) left some examples of

Wilhelminism The Wilhelmine Period () comprises the period of German history between 1890 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the resignation of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck until the end of World War I and Wilhelm' ...

in the city's architecture. This prestige-oriented style is a mixture of various earlier styles, including Romanesque, Gothic and neoclassical. Noteworthy are the post office (1884),. the courthouse (1900),. the lycée Koeberlé (1913). and the water tower (1906). The latter (height: ) was largely inspired by the water tower in Deventer,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The medieval city walls, built in several stages between the 13th and the 16th century, were torn down after the French annexation in the 17th century. However, four towers escaped destruction. The ''Tour des Sorcières'' ("witches' tower"), which served as a gate and a jail, is the tallest.. The ''Tour de l'Horloge'' ("clock tower") was also originally part of a gate. The clock and the elaborate roof were added in 1614.. Two much smaller towers can also be seen, one near the Ill river and another integrated into a later house. All these remains date from the 13th century.. New walls were built by Tarade and Vauban in the 17th century. They were in their turn destroyed in 1874. Only small portions survive: two bastions and the ''Porte de Strasbourg'' ("Strasbourg gate"), a good example of French architecture under

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

.. Sélestat still has two old arsenals, Sainte-Barbe on the main square (1470) and Saint-Hilaire (1518).. The first, with a large crenelated gable, is a fine example of Gothic architecture. File:Sélestat rDoctKoeberlé d.JPG, Rue Koeberlé. File:Sélestat Praelatenhof a4.JPG, Hôtel d'Ebersmunster. File:Place du Marché aux Pots, Sélestat.JPG, One of the many squares. File:Sélestat ChâteauEau a.JPG, The water tower. File:Tour des Sorcières, Sélestat.JPG, Tour des Sorcières. File:Sélestat ArsenalSteBarbe b.JPG, Arsenal Ste Barbe.

Municipal archive

The municipal

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

(''archives municipales'') of Sélestat owns and exhibits numerous ancient documents, among which

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

s dating back to the 13th century and, most famously, the register dated from 1521 containing the first written mention of the Christmas tree.

Illwald forest

The Illwald forest was designated a regional nature reserve in 2013. It covers , almost half of the territory of Sélestat, and is one of the largest

s in France. It lies on the

, which forms a complex hydrographic network there. The site is subject to flooding and it is characteristic of the

, a flat region located between the Ill and the

that serves as a natural spillway for the two rivers. Common trees are

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

s and

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

s, which tolerate wet soils. Because the phreatic table is very close to the surface, soils hardly freeze in winter and drought rarely occurs in summer. The nature reserve also has meadows and reed beds. Common animals include a large variety of birds (

storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

, curlews, harriers), amphibians and mammals ( beavers). The reserve is home to the largest

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

population in France. This animal was introduced to the area in 1854. The Illwald contains three chapels that were originally pilgrimage destinations. The Schnellenbuhl chapel was built by Jesuits in 1683; Our Lady of the Oaks dates back to the 15th century but it was rebuilt after a fire in 1920; Our Lady of Peace was built in 1960, and St. Anthony was founded in 1280 but rebuilt in 1930..

Other cultural institutions and events

Sélestat is the seat of the ''Agence culturelle d'Alsace'' ("cultural agency of Alsace", ACA) since 1976. Since 1982, Sélestat is the seat of the FRAC Alsace, the Alsace branch of the ''Fonds régional d'art contemporain'' ("Regional

Contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

fund"), administered by the ACA. A biennale dedicated to contemporary art takes place every two year in autumn since 1984. It has welcomed artists like Daniel Buren,

Ben Vautier Ben Vautier, also known simply as Ben (born 18 July 1935 in Naples, Italy), is a French artist. Vautier lives and works in Nice, where he ran a record shop called ''Magazin'' between 1958 and 1973. Biography Benjamin Vautier was born on 18 Ju ...

, Sarkis Zabunyan and Agnès Varda.. Since 2006, Sélestat is the seat of ''Archéologie Alsace'' (formerly known as the ''Pôle interdépartemental d'archéologie rhénan'', the "

Rhenish The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

inter-départemental center for archaeology"), which conducts and documents archaeological field surveys and

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

in Alsace. Every year since 1927, Sélestat has organised a large flower procession through its old town. The "corso fleuri" is one of the biggest floral shows in eastern France. New floats are made each year around a theme and decorated with

dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...

s only.. A carnaval procession is also held in March. It is the remnant of a very old tradition started by the town's butchers.. Sélestat also has festivals dedicated to electronic music (Epidemic Experience), satirical cartoons (Sélest'ival), a spring fun fair, and a summer medieval reenactment with a market and a procession.. The cultural complex ''Les Tanzmatten'', built by Rudy Ricciotti, was inaugurated in 2000. It serves as the town's concert and performances hall, as well as for exhibitions, commercial fairs and weddings.

Sports

Sélestat Alsace Handball is a noted French handball club. It was founded in 1967. FC Sélestat, the football club, was founded in 1906.

Notable people

Born in Sélestat

* Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer * Fabienne Keller, French politician *

Jacques Paul Klein Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat, who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions: the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) from January 17, 1996, to August 1, 1997, the ...

, French-American Diplomat and General *

Eugène Koeberlé Eugène Koeberlé (4 January 1828, Sélestat - 13 June 1915, Strasbourg) was a French and German surgeon to the ''Faculté de médecine'' in Strasbourg, earning his agrégation in 1853. Koeberlé specialized in abdominal surgery, in particular pio ...

, French surgeon *

Heinrich Kramer Heinrich Kramer ( 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1487), which describes witchcraft and endorse ...

, German inquisitor *

Johannes Mentelin Johannes Mentelin, sometimes also spelled Mentlin, (born around 1410 in Schlettstadt, today Sélestat; died December 12, 1478 in Strasbourg) was a pioneering German book printer and bookseller active during the period during which incunabula w ...

, German printer *

, German humanist * Joseph Wackenthaler, French organist and composer * Nicolas-Joseph Wackenthaler, French organist and composer * Jakob Wimpfeling, German humanist

Connected to Sélestat

Ludwig Dringenberg Ludwig Dringenberg (born between 1410 and 1415 at Dringenberg in the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn; died in 1477 at Sélestat in Alsace), was a German monk, educator and humanist. Born in Dringenberg in Westphalia, Ludwig probably attended the ...

(died in Sélestat) *

Frédéric Fiebig Frédéric Fiebig ( lv, Frederiks Fībigs; 1885–1953) was a Latvian-born painter who lived in France. He was influenced by both post-Impressionism and Cubism and is considered a member of the Expressionist movement. Fiebig was a great travele ...

, painter (lived and died in Sélestat) *

Thierry Omeyer Thierry Omeyer (born 2 November 1976) is a retired French handball goalkeeper. A member of the French national team since 1999, he has won all major titles with the team: world champion (five times), European champion (three times) and Olympic c ...

(played professionally for Sélestat) * François Ignace Schaal (died in Sélestat)

Twin towns - sister cities

Sélestat is twinned with: * Charleroi, Belgium, since 1959 *

Waldkirch Waldkirch is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground organs ...

, Germany, since 1966 *

Grenchen Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...

, Switzerland, since 1988 *

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlb ...

, Austria, since 2006

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External links

City council website

Sélestat tourist office

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selestat Décapole Cities in France Populated places established in the 13th century Communes of Bas-Rhin Subprefectures in France Cities in Grand Est