Soultz-Haut-Rhin (german: Sulz/Oberelsaß) 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

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 the ...

département 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 ...

'' in

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

in north-eastern

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

. Its inhabitants are called ''Soultziens'' (male) or ''Soultziennes'' (female).

Geography

The town of Soultz-Haut-Rhin has an enclave located northeast of

Goldbach-Altenbach Goldbach-Altenbach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin département The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The comm ...

. The town of Soultz was built around a salted water source from which originates its name.

History

The origins of Soultz go back to the 7th century. 667 : the written name of Sulza (salted source) is mentioned in a donation from

Adalrich, Duke of Alsace Adalrich ( la, Adalricus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Adalrik''; died after 683 AD), also known as Eticho, was the Duke of Alsace, the founder of the family of the Etichonids and of the Habsburg, and an important and influential figure in the pow ...

, father of Saint Odile, of the bann of Soultz to the convent of

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 Soultz Railway was a long military light railway with a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

of that the Germans built and operated during

World War I 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 ...

from Soultz to the Niederwald terminus below the Hartmannswillerkopf near

Wattwiller Wattwiller ( gsw, Wǎttwillr; ger, Wattweiler) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department of the Grand Est region, which lies in the north-eastern part of France. Located near the Vosges mountain rocky spur of Hartmannswillerkopf, Wattwiller ...

Demography

Places of interest

Soultz has houses from the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. * The Church of Saint-Maurice is a Gothic building (1270–1489) *

Château de Buchenek The Château de Buchenek is a castle in the ''commune'' of Soultz-Haut-Rhin in the Haut-Rhin ''département'' of France. Dating from the second half of the 13th century, it was altered, possibly in the 14th century, and in the 16th century. The ...

is a 13th-century castle, now a museum * La Nef des Jouets (The Toys Vessel, museum of toys) * The 1860 town hall is a

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

building

People

Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès Baron Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès (born Georges-Charles d'Anthès; 5 February 1812 – 2 November 1895) was a French military officer and politician. Despite his later career as a senator under the Second French Empire, D'Anthès ...

, who married Catherine Gontcharoff, eldest sister of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

's wife, and killed Pushkin in a duel. * Auguste-César West (1810–1880), prefect of

from 1848 to 1850 then prefect of

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 ...

until 1855 and of

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

until 1859. *

Bernard Genghini Bernard Genghini (born 18 January 1958 in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, Haut-Rhin) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. International career Genghini earned 27 caps and scored six goals for the France national team. He ...

, footballer, born in 1958 in Soultz *

Pierre Villon Pierre Villon (27 August 1901 in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, Haut-Rhin – 6 November 1980 in Vallauris, Alpes-Maritimes) was a member of the French Communist Party and of the French Resistance during the war. With his true name of Roger Ginsburger, he ...

(1901–1980), whose real name was Pierre Ginsburger, was a French political figure who took part in the Resistance. *

Katia Krafft Catherine Joséphine "Katia" Krafft ( née Conrad; April 17, 1942 – June 3, 1991) and her husband, Maurice Paul Krafft (March 25, 1946 – June 3, 1991), were French volcanologists who died in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen, in Japan, on Ju ...

, volcanologist, born in 1942 in Soultz. Wife of the volcanologist

Maurice Krafft Catherine Joséphine "Katia" Krafft ( née Conrad; April 17, 1942 – June 3, 1991) and her husband, Maurice Paul Krafft (March 25, 1946 – June 3, 1991), were French volcanologists who died in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen, in Japan, on Ju ...

. Both of them were carried off in 1991 by a pyroclastical flow on the sides of the

Mount Unzen is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island. In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsunam ...

(Japan).