Souffelweyersheim
Encyclopedia
Souffelweyersheim a commune
in the Bas-Rhin
department in Alsace
in north-eastern France, and is part of metropolitan Strasbourg
.
Locally the name is shortened and the village is called Souffel.
s of the Vosges and the Black Forest
, the plain is bisected by the Souffel
river from which the village takes its name. This river rises in Kuttolsheim
and joins the Ill
river, a tributary of the Rhine, a little south of Wantzenau after flowing 27 km (16.8 mi).
In 1790, the formerly common pasture meadows were subdivided, and sections were given to Souffelweyersheim, Hoenheim
, Bischheim
, Adelshoffen and Schiltigheim
.
In 1792, Austria and Prussia
began hostilities against France. From October to December 1793, engagements between the troops of the French Republic and the Austro-Prussian alliance centered on a front near Hoenheim
– Griesheim-sur-Souffel
– Dingsheim
before the Austro-Prussian troops were pushed back out of Alsace in January 1794.
After his disastrous Russian campaign
, Napoleon Bonaparte managed with difficulty to return to France, but enemy forces in the Sixth Coalition followed. In January 1814, the French troops lost Strasbourg to Cossacks who cantoned
in Hoenheim, Bischheim and Schiltigheim. Napoleon abdicated in favour of Louis XVIII, and was banished to the isle of Elba
. Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France on 26 February 1815. In a campaign that lasted a Hundred Days
he attempted to remain on the throne of France. Ten days after Napoleon's final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
, General Jean Rapp
led the French forces against the Crown Prince of Württemberg
in the Battle of La Suffel
near Souffelweyersheim and Hoenheim. The day after the battle, the Crown Prince of Württemberg ordered the burning of the village of Souffelweyersheim. It took all of the nineteenth century to rebuild the village.
1852 was the year of the inauguration of two new transportation routes near Souffelweyersheim: the Marne-Rhine Canal
which connects Vitry-le-François
to Strasbourg, and the railway line between Paris and Strasbourg.
On 19 July 1870, the Franco-Prussian War
began. On 7 August, shortly after the battle of Froeschwiller-Wœrth, German troops arrived at Souffelweyersheim. The troops settled in Reichstett
and began a siege of Strasbourg on 12 August, arranging with the local populace for supplies for the troops. On September 27, Strasbourg, burnt by the continuous bombing, surrendered. The Treaty of Frankfurt
, signed 10 May 1871, put an end to the war, but France yielded three of departments of Alsace-Moselle, keeping only Belfort
.
In 1906, newly expanded rail yards at Hausbergen were completed. This facility serves several communes in the Souffelweyersheim area.
On 2 September 1939, the inhabitants of the communes in front of the Maginot line
were evacuated to the valley of the Bruche River. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France declared war on Germany. On 9 September, the evacuated inhabitants embarked on a second journey to the South of France. They did not return to Alsace, which was occupied by the Germans from August 1940 until liberation
on 23 November 1944 by the French 2nd Armoured Division of General Leclerc.
In January 1945, a German offensive called Operation Nordwind
forced a redeployment of the Allied troops in the north of Alsace. General Charles de Gaulle
refused the American order to evacuate Strasbourg and the French troops pushed the Germans back but not before they reached Offendorf
. Souffelweyersheim and its environs remained under the fire of the German batteries until April 1945.
A law of 1966 created the Urban Community of Strasbourg and Souffelweyersheim was integrated into it. 1970 saw the completion of the construction of the motorway A34 Metz – Strasbourg, later absorbed by the A4 motorway connecting Paris to Strasbourg, skirting the rail yard at Hausbergen.
St. George's church was built in 1781 in the neo-classical style. Most of the tower has been rebuilt since then.
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, and is part of metropolitan 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,...
.
Etymology
Souffelweyersheim means: the village on the pond of Souffel. Souffel (the Souffel river) + Weyer (the pond) + S (of) + Heim (hamlet, village)Locally the name is shortened and the village is called Souffel.
Geography
The village covers an area of 451 hectares (1114 acres), and is located 6 km (3¾ miles) north of Strasbourg at an altitude of 140 metres (460 ft). Located in the plain of Alsace, between the massifMassif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
s of the Vosges and the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
, the plain is bisected by the Souffel
Souffel
The Souffel is a river in Alsace, France. It rises near Kuttolsheim and joins the Ill river , south of La Wantzenau after a course of 26 km. It has given its name to two villages on its banks: Souffelweyersheim and Griesheim-sur-Souffel. Tributaries of the Souffel are Haltbach, Plaetzerbach,...
river from which the village takes its name. This river rises in Kuttolsheim
Kuttolsheim
Kuttolsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It has been built along an old Roman road leading from Strasbourg to Saverne.-Geography:...
and joins the Ill
Ill (France)
The Ill is a river in Alsace, in north-eastern France. It is a left-side, or western tributary of the Rhine.It starts down from its source near the village of Winkel, in the Jura mountains, with a resurgence near Ligsdorf, turns around Ferrette on its east side, and then runs northward through...
river, a tributary of the Rhine, a little south of Wantzenau after flowing 27 km (16.8 mi).
History
Hoenheim
Hoenheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Heraldry:"D'or aux trois corbeaux de sable posés deux et un"....
, Bischheim
Bischheim
Bischheim can refer to the following:*a municipality in the German district of Donnersbergkreis; see Bischheim, Germany*a canton in France; see Canton of Bischheim*a town in this canton; see Bischheim, Bas-Rhin...
, Adelshoffen and Schiltigheim
Schiltigheim
Schiltigheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The inhabitants are called Schilikois in French and Scheligemer in Alsatian....
.
In 1792, Austria and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
began hostilities against France. From October to December 1793, engagements between the troops of the French Republic and the Austro-Prussian alliance centered on a front near Hoenheim
Hoenheim
Hoenheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Heraldry:"D'or aux trois corbeaux de sable posés deux et un"....
– Griesheim-sur-Souffel
Griesheim-sur-Souffel
Griesheim-sur-Souffel is a commune in the Bas-Rhin déparetment in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is positioned a short distance to the northwest of Strasbourg....
– Dingsheim
Dingsheim
Dingsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Bas-Rhin department*Community of Communes of the Kochersberg*Kochersberg-References:*...
before the Austro-Prussian troops were pushed back out of Alsace in January 1794.
After his disastrous Russian campaign
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
, Napoleon Bonaparte managed with difficulty to return to France, but enemy forces in the Sixth Coalition followed. In January 1814, the French troops lost Strasbourg to Cossacks who cantoned
Cantonment
A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military or police quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district, as is the name of the Cantons of Switzerland. In South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations...
in Hoenheim, Bischheim and Schiltigheim. Napoleon abdicated in favour of Louis XVIII, and was banished to the isle of Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
. Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France on 26 February 1815. In a campaign that lasted a Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
he attempted to remain on the throne of France. Ten days after Napoleon's final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, General Jean Rapp
Jean Rapp
Jean Rapp was a French Army general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.Rapp was born the son of the janitor of the town-hall of Colmar. He began theological studies to became a clergy man, but with his build and heated character, he was better suited to the military,...
led the French forces against the Crown Prince of Württemberg
William I of Württemberg
William I was the second King of Württemberg from October 30, 1816 until his death.He was born in Lüben, the son of King Frederick I of Württemberg and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel .-First marriage:...
in the Battle of La Suffel
Battle of La Suffel
The Battle of La Suffel was a French victory over Austrian forces of the Seventh Coalition and the last French pitched battle victory in the Napoleonic Wars...
near Souffelweyersheim and Hoenheim. The day after the battle, the Crown Prince of Württemberg ordered the burning of the village of Souffelweyersheim. It took all of the nineteenth century to rebuild the village.
1852 was the year of the inauguration of two new transportation routes near Souffelweyersheim: the Marne-Rhine Canal
Marne-Rhine Canal
The Marne-Rhine Canal is a canal in north eastern France. It connects the river Marne in Vitry-le-François with the Rhine in Strasbourg. Combined with the canalised part of the Marne, it allows transport between Paris and eastern France. The original objective of the canal was to connect Paris...
which connects Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It is located on the Marne River and is the western terminus of the Marne-Rhine Canal.- History :In 1142, Louis VII invaded Champagne and seized Vitry-le-François...
to Strasbourg, and the railway line between Paris and Strasbourg.
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
began. On 7 August, shortly after the battle of Froeschwiller-Wœrth, German troops arrived at Souffelweyersheim. The troops settled in Reichstett
Reichstett
Reichstett is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.Fort Rapp is located here.-References:*...
and began a siege of Strasbourg on 12 August, arranging with the local populace for supplies for the troops. On September 27, Strasbourg, burnt by the continuous bombing, surrendered. The Treaty of Frankfurt
Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)
The Treaty of Frankfurt was a peace treaty signed in Frankfurt on 10 May 1871, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.- Summary :The treaty did the following:...
, signed 10 May 1871, put an end to the war, but France yielded three of departments of Alsace-Moselle, keeping only Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
.
In 1906, newly expanded rail yards at Hausbergen were completed. This facility serves several communes in the Souffelweyersheim area.
On 2 September 1939, the inhabitants of the communes in front of the Maginot line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
were evacuated to the valley of the Bruche River. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France declared war on Germany. On 9 September, the evacuated inhabitants embarked on a second journey to the South of France. They did not return to Alsace, which was occupied by the Germans from August 1940 until liberation
on 23 November 1944 by the French 2nd Armoured Division of General Leclerc.
In January 1945, a German offensive called Operation Nordwind
Operation Nordwind
Operation North Wind was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. It began on 1 January 1945 in Alsace and Lorraine in northeastern France, and it ended on 25 January.-Objectives:...
forced a redeployment of the Allied troops in the north of Alsace. General Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
refused the American order to evacuate Strasbourg and the French troops pushed the Germans back but not before they reached Offendorf
Offendorf
Offendorf is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. Souffelweyersheim and its environs remained under the fire of the German batteries until April 1945.
A law of 1966 created the Urban Community of Strasbourg and Souffelweyersheim was integrated into it. 1970 saw the completion of the construction of the motorway A34 Metz – Strasbourg, later absorbed by the A4 motorway connecting Paris to Strasbourg, skirting the rail yard at Hausbergen.
List of mayors
| Term | Mayor | Political party |
|---|---|---|
| 1925–1941 | Alfred Vix | |
| 1941–1944 | Phillipe Heim | |
| 1944–1945 | Alfred Vix | |
| 1945–1952 | Aloyse Hanssen | |
| 1952–1965 | Aloyse Lorentz | |
| 1965–1966 | Albert Bucher | |
| 1966–1983 | Robert Babillon | |
| 1983–1995 | Raymond Vetterhoeffer | |
| 1995–2009 | André Reichardt | UMP Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party... |
| 2009– | Patrick Kurtz | DVD |
Demographics
Places of interest
St. George's church was built in 1781 in the neo-classical style. Most of the tower has been rebuilt since then.