Oberelsaß (or Upper Alsace, ) was the southern part of the historical region
Alsace or Elsass, inhabited originally by locals speaking
Alemannic German. From 1871 to 1918, ''Bezirk Oberelsaß'' was a region (''Bezirk'') in the southern part of the province of
Elsaß-Lothringen in the
German Empire. The region corresponds exactly to the current
French department
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
of
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 ...
. Its capital was
Colmar. It was divided into the
districts (''Kreise'') of:
*
Altkirch
Altkirch (, ; gsw, label= Alsatian, Àltkìrech) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.
The town is traditionally regarded as the capital of Sundgau.
Etymology
The name of the commune means ''old churc ...
within the
Sundgau
*
Colmar
*
Gebweiler
Guebwiller (french: Guebwiller, ; Alsatian: ''Gàwiller'' ; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est currently in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015.
It is situated northwest of Mulhou ...
(Guebwiller)
*
Mülhausen (Mulhouse)
*
Rappoltsweiler (Ribeauvillé)
*
Thann
The flag of Oberelsaß is a yellow bar on a red field decorated on each side with three crowns. The combination of this flag with that of
Unterelsaß forms the flag of modern
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 ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberelsass
History of Alsace
Former government regions of Germany
1871 establishments in Germany