Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune 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 lo ...

department of France, of which it is a

sub-prefecture 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. ...

. It is second in size in the

only to

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 ...

, some to the south. To the north of the town, the Forest of Haguenau (french: Forêt de Haguenau) is the largest undivided forest in France. Haguenau was founded by German dukes and has swapped back and forth several times between Germany and France over the centuries, with its spelling altering between "Hagenau" and "Haguenau" by the turn. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Haguenau was ceded to the new German Empire. It was part of the German Empire for 48 years from 1871 to 1918, when at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

it was returned to France. This transfer was officially ratified in 1919 with the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

. Haguenau is a rapidly growing town, its population having increased from 22,944 inhabitants in 1968 to 34,504 inhabitants in 2017. Haguenau's functional urban area has grown from 54,415 inhabitants in 1968 to 75,933 inhabitants in 2017.

History

Haguenau dates from the beginning of the 12th century, when Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed (1090 – 6 April 1147) of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

erected a hunting lodge on an island in the river Moder. The medieval King and

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 ...

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

fortified the settlement and gave it

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, important for further development, in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge he founded an imperial palace he regarded as his favourite residence. In this palace were preserved the "Crown Jewels 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 unt ...

", i.e. the jewelled imperial crown, sceptre, imperial orb, and sword of

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 E ...

. Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans, made it an

imperial city 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 ...

in 1257. Subsequently, through

Rudolph I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...

(

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 ...

) Haguenau became the seat of the of Hagenau, the German imperial advocate in

Lower Alsace Lower Alsace (northern Alsace) was a landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire held ''ex officio'' by the Bishop of Strasbourg. Prior to is acquisition by the bishopric, it was held by the counts of Hüneburg. In 1174 Count Gottfried of Hüneburg ...

. In the 14th century, it housed the executive council of the Decapole, a defensive and offensive association of ten Alsatian towns against external aggression, economic expansion and related political instability. In the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

in 1648, Alsace was ceded to France, which had repeatedly invaded and looted the region in the past. In 1673 King

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

had the fortifications as well as the remains of the king's palace razed in order to extinguish German traditions. Haguenau was recaptured by German troops in 1675, but was taken again by the French two years later, when it was nearly destroyed by fire set by looting French troops. In 1793 Prussians and Austrians had occupied Lower Alsace from the Lauter to Moder to support the Royalists and before the year's end were driven back over the border by the

French Revolutionary Army The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipme ...

, causing the “great flight”. In 1871, Haguenau was ceded to the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

upon its victory in the Franco-Prussian War; the community was made part of Alsace-Lorraine, with its Germanic spelling–''Hagenau''–restored. The Haguenau Airport was built in 1916 by the German military to train fighter and bomber pilots to fight in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Hagenau was part of the briefly independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine after

, before being returned to France in 1919.

Second World War

In 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 ...

, Germany retook the town in 1940. In November 1944 the area surrounding Haguenau was under the control of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of General Gerhard Franz. On 1 December 1944, the

314th Infantry Regiment The 314th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the U.S. Army first organized in 1917. History World War I Organized as part of the 79th Division A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force) – World War I The United States in World War I ...

of the 79th Division, XV Corps, 7th U.S. Army, moved into the area near Haguenau, and on 7 December the regiment was given the assignment to take it and the town forest just north that included German ammunition dumps. The attack began at 0645, 9 December, and sometime during the night of 10 December and the early morning of 11 December the Germans withdrew under the cover of darkness, leaving the town proper largely under American control. Before they withdrew, the Germans demolished bridges, useful buildings, and even the town park. However, as experienced by Haguenau throughout its history, the Germans came back and retook the town in late January. Most of the inhabitants fled with the assistance of the U.S. Army. The Americans launched an immediate counterattack to retake the town. The 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division was relieved by the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

on 5 February 1945. The 36th Infantry Division would relieve the 101st on 23 February 1945. On March 15 the Allied Operation Undertone, a combined effort of the U.S. Seventh and French 1st Armies of the U.S. Sixth Army Group was launched to drive the Germans back along a 75 km line from

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 ...

to Haguenau. The last German soldier was not cleared out of the town until March 19, 1945, after house-to-house fighting. Much of the town had been destroyed despite the Allied reluctance to use artillery to clear out the Germans.

Technical Sergeant Technical sergeant is the name of two current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States Armed Forces, as well as in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol. Outside the United States, it is used only by the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and the ...

Morris E. Crain, Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for providing covering fire for his men on 13 March 1945.

Population

Economy

The town has a well balanced economy. Centuries of troubled history in the buffer lands between France and Germany have given Haguenau a rich historical and cultural heritage which supports a lively tourist trade. There is also a thriving light manufacturing sector centred on the industrial zone to the west of the town. Here the presence nearby of significant retail developments testifies to Haguenau's importance as a regional commercial centre. The recent extension of the

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

has improved access to the commercial and industrial zones and reduced the traffic congestion which used to be a frequent challenge for vehicle drivers using the road which follows the line of the old town walls on the western side of town.

Sights

Architecture

In spite of the extensive destruction Haguenau suffered during the many wars experienced by Alsace, especially 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 ...

, the French conquest in 1677 and the Second World War, it still possesses monuments from nine centuries, even if nothing is left of arguably the most prestigious of them, Frederick I Barbarossa's imperial palace (''Kaiserpfalz''). Medieval Haguenau retains three gates from its former fortification, the ''Tour des Chevaliers'' (Tower of the knights), the ''Tour des Pêcheurs'' (Tower of the fishermen) and the ''Porte de Wissembourg'' (

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 ...

gate), two fairly large Gothic churches, Saint-Georges and Saint-Nicolas, an ancient water-mill and the old custom-house (''Ancienne Douane''). Both Saint-Georges and Saint-Nicolas Church have lost many of their artistic treasures over the centuries, especially their medieval stained glass windows and outside sculptures. Still, both display to this day some fine liturgical furniture (altars, choir stalls, organ cases,

church tabernacle A tabernacle or sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, Eucharist (consecrated communion hosts) is stored as part of the "reserved sacrament" rite (Christianity), rite. A container for the same pur ...

s, calvaries...). Saint-Nicolas has become the receptacle for the baroque wooden decoration of the church of the destroyed

Neubourg Abbey Neubourg Abbey (french: Abbaye de Neubourg or ''du Neubourg''; german: Kloster Neuburg; la, Novum Castrum) is a former Cistercian monastery in Alsace, France, in Dauendorf, about 9 km west of Haguenau in the Bas-Rhin department. History ...

nearby. French

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

has bequeathed the town several buildings, among which the former hospital and the current town hall. The Synagogue (1820) is a fine example of French Neo-classicism, as is the theatre (''Théâtre municipal'') (1846). The large Hop hall (''Halle au houblon'') is a good example of historicism in architecture. It was built by the French in 1867 and extended twice by the Germans, in 1881 and 1908. The Basilica of Our Lady in the locality of Marienthal is a vast

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

sanctuary (1863–1866). It keeps two early 15th-century statues, and a host of sculptures from around 1519. Haguenau's streets are adorned by attractive fountains, the medieval Saint-Georges fountain, the 18th-century Bee fountain (''Fontaine aux abeilles'') and the 1825 Dolphin fountain (''Fontaine aux dauphins'').

Museums

Musée historique de Haguenau The Musée historique (Historical museum) is one of the three museums of Haguenau, France. It was established in 1900 and inaugurated in 1905, when Haguenau was a German town and part of Alsace-Lorraine. In spite of its name, it is as much an art ...

(Historical Museum). The largest museum in Bas-Rhin outside of Strasbourg, it is located in a grand neo-medieval building (1905). *

Musée alsacien (Haguenau) The ''Museé alsacien'' ( Alsatian museum) is one of the three museums of Haguenau, France. Like its older and much larger counterpart in Strasbourg, it is dedicated to local, mostly rural customs, furniture, and folk art. The museum was establ ...

(Alsatian Museum). Located in the former palace of the chancellor (''Chancellerie''), Haguenau's main

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

building. * Musée du bagage (

Baggage Baggage or luggage consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, tri ...

museum). Located in a former 1840s villa that subsequently served as a bank. The museum opened in April 2016.

Higher education

The ''Institut universitaire de technologie de Haguenau'' (IUT) was founded in 2006. It is a branch of the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

Notable people

Thomas Anshelm Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

(de) * Werner Barkholt (1902–1942), a Catholic spiritualist *

Alfred von Beckerath Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

(de) * Charles Berdellé (fr) * Stéphane Besle * Philipp Biedert (de) * Philipp Friedrich Böddecker (1607–1683), a Composer and organist * David Léon Cahun (1841–1900), a Jewish French traveler, orientalist and writer * Wolfgang Fabricius Capito(n) ''(Köpfel)'' (1478–1541), a Christian theologian and reformer * Roger Corbeau (fr) * Morris E. Crain (1924–March 13, 1945), a United States Army soldier * Louis Eisenmann (de) *

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

Albert Gemmrich Albert Gemmrich (born 13 February 1955) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. He obtained five caps scoring twice for the France national team. Career statistics :''Scores and results list France's goal tally firs ...

Karl Gengler Karl Gengler (8 October 1886 – 9 October 1974) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the onl ...

(1886–1974), a politician *

Gustave Glotz Gustave Glotz (17 February 1862, Haguenau, Bas-Rhin – 16 April 1935, Paris) was a French historian of ancient Greece. He was a supporter of the theory that history never follows a simple, logical course. Glotz studied at the École normale ...

* Heinrich Gran (active from 1489 until 1527), a printer of

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

* Heinrich von Isny (de) *

Josel of Rosheim Josel of Rosheim (alternatively: Joselin, Joselmann, Yoselmann, german: Josel von Rosheim, he, יוסף בן גרשון מרוסהים ''Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim'', or ''Joseph ben Gershon Loanz''; c. 1480 – March, 1554) was the great advoca ...

(1476–1554), a Jewish shtadlan, born here * Cédric Klein (fr) * Diebold Lauber (de) * Borach Levi, ''later'' Joseph Jean François Elie (1721–?), a Jewish convert to Christianity *

Eliezer Liebermann Eliezer (, "Help/Court of El") was the name of at least three different individuals in the Bible. Eliezer of Damascus Eliezer of Damascus () was, according to the Targums, the son of Nimrod. Eliezer was head of the patriarch Abraham's house ...

(half of the 19th-century), an Austrian Jewish Talmudist son of the rabbi Zeeb-Wolf of this town *

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rallying, rally, auto racing, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nin ...

(born 1974), 9-time World Rally Championship-winning driver *

Marcel Loeffler Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

(fr) *

Adam Friedrich Löwenfinck Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(de) *

Niklaus von Hagenau Nikolaus Hagenauer (c. 1445/1460 — before 1538) was a German late gothic sculptor from Hagenau (Alsace in the Holy Roman Empire, present day France). He was most likely born as Niklas Zimmerlin, but was also documented and signed works as Niclas ...

Jean-Georges Paulus Jean-Georges Paulus (5 August 1816 – 14 April 1898), was a French musician, conductor of music from 1848 to 1873 and founder of the French Republican Guard Band. Biography Born in Haguenau (Bas-Rhin), he was the son of a coffee maker, Jean- ...

* Reinmar of Hagenau, 12th-century minnesinger * Marie-Louise Roth (born 1926), a literary scientist (de) * Elie Scheid (1841–1922), a Jewish French communal worker and writer * Diebold Schilling the Younger (before 1460, Haguenau (?)–1515 (?)), an Alsatian-Swiss chronicler * Marius Schneider (fr) * Elek Schwartz *

Theobald Schwarz Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans. The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...

(de) * Pierre Seel (1923–2005), an activist *

Eduard Stadtler Eduard Stadtler (February 17, 1886 in Hagenau – October 5, 1945 in NKVD special camp Nr. 7) was a German journalist and nationalist politician who formed the Anti-Bolshevist League in 1918. Stadler had begun advocating the creation of a "national ...

* Johannes Stroux * Peter Stühlen (de) * Joseph Thierry * Michel Walter (fr) * Mathieu Weill (1851–1939), a Jewish French mathematician

Twin towns

Haguenau is twinned with

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 ...

(Germany).

Media

Episode eight of the Second World War miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' is set in Haguenau. In the 1968 film ''Girl on a motorcycle'', Marianne Faithfull's character sets out from Haguenau on her fateful journey.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

* * * * * * {{Authority control Communes of Bas-Rhin Subprefectures in France Free imperial cities Historic Jewish communities in Europe Décapole Populated places established in the 12th century