Gundershoffen
Encyclopedia
Gundershoffen is a commune
in the Bas-Rhin
department in Alsace
in north-eastern France
.
period.
The earliest surviving written record of the place dates from 1232, where the name used for the settlement is Guntershoven, a name which endured at least until the seventeenth century.
The village was at one stage owned by the Dukes of Lorraine. Like many villages in Alsace
, Gundershoffen was ravaged by the Thirty Years War with savage depopulation resulting: it was subsequently repopulated by families from Switzerland
.
In 1940 the Germans
recovered Alsace and the little town suffered badly from the fighting of the Second World War. Liberation appeared in the form of the US Army on December 3, 1944, but the area was recaptured by German troops. Only in March 1945 were the German fighters finally expelled.
The Jewish cemetery dates from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, and continues to be used by Gundershoffen and by the neighbouring commune of Reichshoffen
.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
department in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
in north-eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
Archaeological finds such as coins, pottery and statues from the third century testify to the presence of a settlement here in the Gallo-RomanGallic Empire
The Gallic Empire is the modern name for a breakaway realm that existed from 260 to 274. It originated during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
period.
The earliest surviving written record of the place dates from 1232, where the name used for the settlement is Guntershoven, a name which endured at least until the seventeenth century.
The village was at one stage owned by the Dukes of Lorraine. Like many villages in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, Gundershoffen was ravaged by the Thirty Years War with savage depopulation resulting: it was subsequently repopulated by families from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
In 1940 the Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
recovered Alsace and the little town suffered badly from the fighting of the Second World War. Liberation appeared in the form of the US Army on December 3, 1944, but the area was recaptured by German troops. Only in March 1945 were the German fighters finally expelled.
Landmarks
Gundershoffen possesses an eighteenth-century Protestant church and a modern Catholic one.The Jewish cemetery dates from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, and continues to be used by Gundershoffen and by the neighbouring commune of Reichshoffen
Reichshoffen
Reichshoffen is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-See also:* Battle of Worth, also known as the Battle of Reichshoffen*Communes of the Bas-Rhin department-References:*...
.