Rouffach
Encyclopedia
Rouffach is a commune
in the Haut-Rhin
department in Alsace
in north-eastern France
.
Rouffach lies along the Alsatian wine route
(Route des Vins d'Alsace).
Its vineyard
s produce one of the finest Alsatian wines
: the Grand Cru .
An ecological and organic food fair takes place annually in the town, dealing mainly with bread, wine and cheese.
and 28 km (17.4 mi) north of Mulhouse
, on the vineyards of the eastern foothills of the Vosges
Mountains. The most important transportation routes between the towns are the N83 (Lyon
–Strasbourg
) and the railway line Strasbourg-Mulhouse-Basel
.
Gallo-roman male's name Rubbius or Rubius ending with Celtic suffix -āko > -acum (cf. Welsh -og).
Similar place-names in France : Royat
(Rubiacum 1147), Robiac
(Robiaco 1119).
gave the city to the Archbishop of Strasbourg
in the 7th century, after the archbishop had re-awakened him from death. It finally became the main town of an episocopal fief, which also included Eguisheim
. The city quickly developed and a wall was built around it.
The golden age ended abruptly with the Thirty Years' War
, when the town was devastated by the Swedes. At the end of the war, when Alsace was conquered by France
, the fief was abolished. The city again achieved prosperity, chiefly due to wine growing, and because it was spared during the following wars.
During the time of nazi annexation
, a Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt
(National Political Institute of Education, NEPA, popularly known as Napola) was housed in a former sanatorium
of the city (as of October 1940).
Route of Alsace (Route Romane d'Alsace).
city of Bönnigheim
in Baden-Württemberg
.
Resident in Rouffach:
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 Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...
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...
.
Rouffach lies along the Alsatian wine route
Alsace wine
Alsace wine or Alsatian wine is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white. These wines, which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées : Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand...
(Route des Vins d'Alsace).
Its vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s produce one of the finest Alsatian wines
Alsace wine
Alsace wine or Alsatian wine is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white. These wines, which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées : Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand...
: the Grand Cru .
An ecological and organic food fair takes place annually in the town, dealing mainly with bread, wine and cheese.
Geography
Rouffach is situated on the Lauch River, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of ColmarColmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
and 28 km (17.4 mi) north of Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, on the vineyards of the eastern foothills of the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
Mountains. The most important transportation routes between the towns are the N83 (Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
–Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
) and the railway line Strasbourg-Mulhouse-Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
.
Etymology
Rubiaco 7th c., Rubiacum 12th c., Rufiacum 13th c.Gallo-roman male's name Rubbius or Rubius ending with Celtic suffix -āko > -acum (cf. Welsh -og).
Similar place-names in France : Royat
Royat
Royat is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.Since Roman times, its thermal springs have made it a spa town, and the remains of the Roman baths are still visible.The population in 1999 was 4,745.-References:*...
(Rubiacum 1147), Robiac
Robiac-Rochessadoule
Robiac-Rochessadoule is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
(Robiaco 1119).
History
In the 5th century, the city was a residence of the Merovingian kings. According to legend, the son of King Dagobert IIDagobert II
Dagobert II was the king of Austrasia , the son of Sigebert III and Chimnechild of Burgundy. The Feast Date of St Dagobert II is 23 December -Biography:...
gave the city to the Archbishop of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
in the 7th century, after the archbishop had re-awakened him from death. It finally became the main town of an episocopal fief, which also included Eguisheim
Eguisheim
Eguisheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.Eguisheim produces Alsace wine of high quality. The commune is largely German-speaking.-History:...
. The city quickly developed and a wall was built around it.
The golden age ended abruptly with the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, when the town was devastated by the Swedes. At the end of the war, when Alsace was conquered by 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...
, the fief was abolished. The city again achieved prosperity, chiefly due to wine growing, and because it was spared during the following wars.
During the time of nazi annexation
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, a Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt
National Political Institutes of Education
National Political Institutes of Education were secondary boarding schools in Nazi Germany. They were founded as "community education sites" after the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933.-Overview:...
(National Political Institute of Education, NEPA, popularly known as Napola) was housed in a former sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
of the city (as of October 1940).
Sightseeing
Rouffach is a station on the RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
Route of Alsace (Route Romane d'Alsace).
- The Notre-Dame de l’Assomption Church of yellow sandstone was built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The transept is from the 2nd half of the 11th century, the Gothic nave is from the 12th and 13th centuries, with Romanesque side portals. Construction on the building continued until 1508; the double steeple facade was never completed. The northern steeple is 56 m high, the southern steeple is only 42 m high. The tip of the crossingCrossing (architecture)A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
steeple reaches a height of 68 m. The building suffered severe damage during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and appears relatively plain today. The voluminous structure of the church and the existence of several medieval styles of construction are all the more apparent to the observer, though. The rose windowRose windowA Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
in the facade (14th century) is one of the most ambitiously designed in Alsace. - The church (monastery) of the Franciscans was built at the end of the 15th century.
- Numerous buildings from the late Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and the RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
(old city hall, old granary) still give the city a medieval character. - The Witch Tower, built in the 13th to the 15th centuries, served as a prison.
- The castle of Isenbourg, residence of King Dagobert II and his son Sigbert, and later the Strasbourg bishop also, no longer remains. Today, a luxury hotel is housed in a reconstruction from the nineteenth century.
- The Établissement public local d’enseignement agricole de Rouffach is a secondary school for technology, agriculture and wine growing.
Partner towns
Since 1964, Rouffach has been a partner of the GermanGermany
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...
city of Bönnigheim
Bönnigheim
Bönnigheim is a town in the German administrative district of Ludwigsburg which lies at the edge of the areas known as Stromberg and Zabergäu. The nearest large towns are Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn.- Geography :Districts of the town...
in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
.
Notable people
Born in Rouffach:- Konrad PelikanConrad PellicanusKonrad Pellikan was a German Protestant theologian, humanist, and Christian Hebraist who worked chiefly in Switzerland.-Life:His German name, "Kurscherer", was changed to "Pellicanus" by his mother's brother Jodocus Gallus, an ecclesiastic...
, 1478–1556, reformerProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and theologian - Valentin Boltz, 1515–1560, theologian and author
- Conrad LycosthenesConrad LycosthenesConrad Lycosthenes was an Alsatian humanist and encyclopedist.-Life:He was born in Rouffach in Alsace on August 8, 1518, the son of Theobald Wolffhart and Elizabeth Kürsner, sister of the Protestant theologian Conrad Pellicanus...
(1518–1561), HumanistHumanismHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and encyclopedist - François Joseph LefebvreFrançois Joseph LefebvreFrançois Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
(1755–1820), French Revolutionary general and marshall of France
Resident in Rouffach:
- Sebastian MünsterSebastian MünsterSebastian Münster , was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Hebrew scholar.- Life :Münster was born at Ingelheim near Mainz, the son of Andreas Munster. He completed his studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen in 1518. His graduate adviser was Johannes Stöffler.He was appointed to...
, Humanist, was a student of Konrad Pelikan in Rouffach from 1509 to 1511