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Obernai

 
Wikipedia: Obernai

Coordinates: 48°27′47″N 7°28′58″E / 48.463055°N 7.482777°E / 48.463055; 7.482777

Commune of Obernai

Obernai place marche.JPG
Place du marché
Location
Obernai is located in France
Obernai
Administration
Country France
Region Alsace
Department Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement Sélestat-Erstein
Canton Obernai
Mayor Bernard Fischer
(2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation 156–572 m (510–1,880 ft)
(avg. 185 m/610 ft)
Land area1 25.78 km2 (9.95 sq mi)
Population2 11,009  (2006)
 - Density 427 /km2 (1,110 /sq mi)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 67348/ 67210
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Obernai (French: Obernai; Alsatian: Owernah; German: Oberehnheim) commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains.

Obernai is a rapidly growing city, its number of inhabitants having gone up from 6,304 in 1968 to 11,099 in 2006.[1] The metropolitan area of Obernai had 12,369 inhabitants in 2006, from 7,293 in 1968.[2]

Contents

History

The Obernai region, which was the property of the dukes of Alsace in the 7th century, is the birthplace of St. Odile, daughter of the Duke, who would become the Patron Saint of Alsace.

The Obernai name first appears in 1240, when the village acquires the status of town under the tutelage of the Hohenstaufen family. The town then prospered. It became a member of the Décapole in 1354, an alliance of ten towns of the Holy Roman Empire in Alsace. Obernai's status reaches its apex in the 15th and 16th century. In 1562, Emperor Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor visited the prosperous town of Obernai.

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) damaged the town, which was occupied by the Imperial troops then by the Swedes. The town was ransomed and ceded to France in 1679, and started to recover some of its prosperity, without totally recapturing its former glory.

The town was annexed by Germany in 1871 with the rest of Alsace then was returned to France after World War I in 1918.

Economy

Obernai is an important center of wine and beer production as well as a touristic destination. The industrial activity features the following companies: Hager, Kronenbourg, Triumph, Sobovia, Supra and Stoeffler. The historical wine of the city is called the Vin du Pistolet in reference to a local legend.

Sights

  • domain of the Léonardsau (19th century - beginning of 20th century): current museum of the horse and the horse carriage.
  • Truttenhausen abbey (in ruin): old monastery of the regular canons of St-Augustin (fifteenth century).
  • Gail Castle(1826-1827): Currently the Freppel High School
  • Oberkirch Castle: rebuilt between 1843 and 1846 with the characteristics of an older fortified castle of the 16th or 17th century.
  • El Biar Castle: Built between 1864 and 1865 on the site of an old flour mill, by General de Vives (1802, 1884) ; it is named after a residential section of Algiers.
  • Old six-bucket well (1579)
  • Clocktower (Kappelturm)
  • Wheat Market (Halle aux Blés)
  • Romanesque house in the rue des Pélerins
  • Old Synagogue [3]

See also

References

External links



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