The Rammachgau (also Rammagau ) was a Gau in southern Germany in present-day Baden-Württemberg . The Rammachgau was located in northern Upper Swabia .
97-709: After the resistance of the Alamannic nobles to Frankish rule had been overcome in 746, the Duchy of the Alamanni was administratively incorporated into the Frankish kingdom by implementing the Frankish units of administration there too. The Franks used the term Gau to denote a politico-geographical division within the Frankish kingdom. The term Gau was often suffixed to a distinctive geographical place name . One of these administrative units
194-500: A continental climate at high altitude. There is fairly low precipitation because the Vosges protect it from the west. The city of Colmar has a sunny microclimate ; it is the second driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of around 700 mm (28 in), making it ideal for vin d'Alsace ( Alsatian wine ). Since 2021, Alsace has been a territorial collectivity called
291-602: A Celtic tribe allied to Rome, appealed to the Roman Senate and Julius Caesar for aid. In 58 BCE, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace. There followed a "long period of security ... for the Gauls along the middle and upper Rhine." From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD,
388-464: A diocese only in the east, at Augsburg (early 7th century). There were two Roman bishoprics, Windisch and Octodurum , which were moved early to other sites ( Avenches and Sitten respectively). Western Alamannia did eventually (7th century) receive a diocese ( Constance ) through the cooperation of the bishops of Chur and the Merovingian monarchs. The foundation of Constance is obscure, though it
485-674: A lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such as Georges-Eugène Haussmann – but also for more distant places like Russia and the Austrian Empire , to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from the Ottoman Empire and offered generous terms to colonists as
582-517: A port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and Scandinavia , it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as Colmar and Hagenau also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the " Décapole " (or "Zehnstädtebund"), a federation of ten free towns. Though little is known about the early history of
679-493: A province (a procuratio , not a provincia ) to be ruled by ministeriales , a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court ( Landgericht ) and a central administration with its seat at Hagenau . Frederick II designated the Bishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but
776-631: A special legal oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. The merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871–1918 lessened antisemitic violence. The constitution of the Reichsland of 1911 reserved one seat in the first chamber of the Landtag for a representative of the Jewish Consistory of Alsace–Lorraine (besides two seats respectively for
873-569: A third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews. In the 1830–1870 era, most Jews moved to the cities, where they integrated and acculturated, as antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and in 1846
970-453: A tribal king. But there appears to have been the custom of the individual kings uniting under the leadership of a single king in military expeditions. Some kings of the Alemanni of the 4th and 5th centuries are known by name, the first being Chrocus (died 306), a military leader who organized raids across the limes during the 3rd century. Chnodomarius ( fl. 350) supported Constantius II in
1067-911: A way of consolidating its hold on the new territories. Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850. In 1843 and 1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in Texas and Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing ships Sully (in May 1843) and Iowa (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development. Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwestern Ontario , notably Waterloo County . In contrast to
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#17328594078501164-509: Is Strasbourg , which sits on the present German international border. The city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies . The name Alsace can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz , meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass , meaning "seated on the Ill ", a river in Alsace. In prehistoric times, Alsace
1261-471: Is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France , on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,919,745. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of German and French influences. Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort , which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace
1358-605: Is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, called ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit (ABCM -> French acronym for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, the Constitution of France still requires that French be
1455-593: Is the last known king of the Alemanni. His raid on Passau is mentioned in the vita of Saint Lupus . The name of Gibuld's successor who was defeated at Tolbiac is not known. After their defeat in 496, the Alemanni bucked the Frankish yoke and put themselves under the protection of Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths but after his death they were again subjugated by the Franks under Theudebert I in 536. Thereafter, Alamannia
1552-641: The "hundred day" restoration of Napoleon I of France in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818, including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly opened Mediterranean and Atlantic seaports. The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and
1649-701: The Ahalolfing family and not by the ducal house which ruled central Alamannia around Lake Constance . Rhaetia too, though Alamannic, was ruled by the Victorids coterminously with the Diocese of Chur . Alamannia was Christianised during the 7th century, although not as thoroughly as either Francia to its west or Bavaria to its east. The first Alamannic law code, Pactus Alamannorum , dates to this period. The Roman dioceses of Strasbourg and Basel covered Alsace and that of Chur, as mentioned, Rhaetia. Alamannia itself had
1746-765: The Black Forest , and the left and right banks of the Rhine , including Alsace and parts of the Swiss plateau , bordering on Upper Burgundy . The boundary with Burgundy, fixed in 843, ran along the lower Aare , turning towards the south at the Rhine, passing west of Lucerne and across the Alps along the upper Rhône to the Saint Gotthard Pass . In the north, the boundary ran from the Murg (some 30 km south of Karlsruhe ) to Heilbronn and
1843-812: The EPCAAL (a Lutheran church) is France's second largest Protestant church, also forming an administrative union ( UEPAL ) with the much smaller Calvinist EPRAL . Unlike the rest of France, the Local law in Alsace–Moselle still provides for the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 and the organic articles , which provides public subsidies to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran , and Calvinist churches, as well as to Jewish synagogues; religion classes in one of these faiths are compulsory in public schools. The divergence in policy from
1940-558: The Edict of Fontainebleau of 1685 that abolished their privileges in the rest of France. After the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War , Alsace was annexed by Germany and became a part of the 1871 unified German Empire as a formal "Emperor's Land". After World War I the victorious Allies detached it from Germany and the province became part of the Third French Republic . Having been occupied and annexed by Germany during World War II , it
2037-543: The European Collectivity of Alsace ( collectivité européenne d'Alsace ). The European Collectivity of Alsace is divided into 2 departmental constituencies ( circonscriptions départementales ), 9 departmental arrondissements , 40 cantons , and 880 communes . Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Alsace's population increased to 1,919,745 in 2021. It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime and shortly after
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#17328594078502134-706: The Iller , capital Memmingen ) on the right side of the Danube. In Baden : Brisigowe ( Breisgau ) along the Upper Rhine opposite Sundgau, and Mortunova , the later Ortenau , along the Upper Rhine opposite Nordgau. Alpegowe ( Albgau ), centered on St. Blaise Abbey, Black Forest . In modern France (the Alsace): Suntgowe ( Sundgau ) and Nordgowe ( Nordgau ). In modern Switzerland: Augestigowe (the territory surrounding Augst ) and Turgowe (modern Thurgau , named for
2231-522: The Illergau , belonged to a larger administrative unit called pagus Duria during the period of Carolingian rule. The fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the simultaneous dissolution of central authority in the 13th century gave the local nobility the opportunity to increase its independence from central authority. Consequently, various local rulers managed to establish authority over territories within
2328-589: The Jews of Alsace , there is a lot of information from the 12th century onwards. They were successful as moneylenders and had the favor of the Emperor. As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace was brought to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the Black Death . These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to the pogroms of 1336 and 1339. In 1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning
2425-615: The Nördlinger Ries . The eastern boundary was at the Lech . Argovia was disputed territory between the dukes of Alamannia and Burgundy. Burchard II , son of the late Burchard I and count in Raetia Curiensis, took the title of duke of Swabia , Duke acknowledged by the newly elected king Henry the Fowler in 919. The duchy of Swabia was ruled by the Hohenstaufen during 1079–1268 and
2522-587: The Rhine ) and Retia proper. Originally a loose confederation of unrelated tribes, the Alemanni underwent coalescence or ethnogenesis during the 3rd century, and were ruled by kings throughout the 4th and 5th centuries until 496, when they were defeated by Clovis I of the Franks at the Battle of Tolbiac . The Alemanni during the Roman Empire period were divided into a number of cantons or goviae , each presided by
2619-554: The Thur ; Zürichgau was detached from Thurgau in the 8th century). The territory between Alamannia and Upper Burgundy was known as Argowe (modern Aargau , named for the Aare ). The pertinence of this territory to either Alamannia or Upper Burgundy was disputed. The county of Raetia Curiensis was absorbed into Alamannia in the early 10th century. It comprised the Ringowe ( Rheingau , named for
2716-540: The Treaty of St. Omer [ fr ] , Upper Alsace was sold by Archduke Sigismund of Austria to Charles the Bold , Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor . The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of
2813-542: The Treaty of Versailles . Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced. In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State . Alsace–Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it
2910-472: The Vosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran) University of Strasbourg , which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau , by which the French king ordered the suppression of French Protestantism ,
3007-619: The Waffen SS ., although they were outnumbered by conscripts of the 1926–1927 classes. Thirty of said Waffen SS were involved in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre (29 conscripts, one volunteer). A third of the malgré-nous perished on the Eastern front. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers , where they joined the Free French Forces . Today,
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3104-545: The région was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under
3201-406: The " Republic of Alsace–Lorraine ". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established Soviets and revolutionaries from power. With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order. Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had insisted that
3298-597: The " younger stem duchy " of Alemannia/Swabia by the early 10th century. The rivalry between the Hunfridings and Ahalolfings was decided in favour of Burchard II Hunfriding in the Battle of Winterthur of 919. Alsace Alsace ( / æ l ˈ s æ s / , US also / æ l ˈ s eɪ s , ˈ æ l s æ s / ; French: [alzas] ; Low Alemannic German / Alsatian : Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs] ; German : Elsass ( German spelling before 1996 : Elsaß ) [ˈɛlzas] ; Latin : Alsatia )
3395-569: The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the War of the Grand Alliance . But Alsace still contained islands of territory nominally under the sovereignty of German princes and an independent city-state at Mulhouse. These enclaves were established by law, prescription and international consensus. The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of Haut- and Bas-Rhin . Alsatians played an active role in
3492-520: The 2018 census, 69.9% of the inhabitants of Alsace were natives of Alsace, 16.0% were born in the rest of Metropolitan France , 0.5% were born in Overseas France , and 13.7% were born in foreign countries. Nearly 44% of the immigrants come from Europe, in particular from Germany (natives of Germany residing in Alsace where housing is cheaper), Italy, Portugal and Serbia. Since 2008, the number of Turkish immigrants living in Alsace has declined, whereas
3589-585: The 3rd century and raided Roman provinces and settled on the left bank of the Rhine River from the 4th century. Ruled by independent tribal kings during the 4th and the 5th centuries, Alamannia lost its independence in the late 5th century and became a duchy of the Frankish Empire in the 6th century. As the Holy Roman Empire started to form under King Conrad I of East Francia (reigning 911 to 918),
3686-557: The Alamanni, and who committed to writing the second Alamannic law code, the Lex Alamannorum . In 743, Pepin the Short and Carloman waged a campaign to reduce Alamannia and in 746 Carloman began a final thrust to subdue the Alamannic nobility. Several thousand Alamanni noblemen were summarily arrested, tried, and executed for treason at a Council at Cannstatt . During the reign of Louis
3783-545: The Carolingian dynasties were appointed regulus or subregulus of Alemannia while at other times, Alemannia was under the direct administration of the Carolingian kings (after 843 kings of East Francia ). From the later 8th century, Alemannic dynasties were able to establish themselves once again. Variously called counts, or margraves, or dukes, these native dynasties during the later years of Carolingian rule managed to establish themselves as de facto independent, establishing
3880-429: The French Revolution. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace. In 1792, Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching song " La Marseillaise " (as Marching song for the Army of the Rhine ), which later became
3977-419: The German annexation of 1871 (when many Alsatians who had opted to keep their French citizenship emigrated to France), by both natural growth and immigration . High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of the Trente Glorieuses ended after the 1973 oil crisis . Demographic growth picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s, but by the 2010s Alsace entered a new period of slow demographic growth. At
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4074-540: The High Middle Ages. The Brünig-Napf-Reuss line is a cultural boundary within High Alemannic which marks the division of Alemannia proper and the Argovia marches between Alemannia and Burgundy. The names for Germany in modern Arabic ( ألمانيا ), Catalan ( Alemanya ), Welsh ( Yr Almaen ), Cornish ( Almayn ), French ( Allemagne ), Persian ( ألمان ), Galician - Portuguese ( Alemanha ), Spanish ( Alemania ), and Turkish ( Almanya ) all derive from Alamannia. A similar correspondence exists for "German", both as
4171-444: The Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace–Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found an independent republic. While Jacques Peirotes , at this time deputy at the Landrat Elsass–Lothringen and just elected mayor of Strasbourg , proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic , a self-proclaimed government of Alsace–Lorraine declared its independence as
4268-578: The Neckar and the Danube. Duria ( Duriagau ) between Ulm and Augsburg. Albegowe ( Allgäu ), Keltinstein (between Geltnach and Wertach ) and Augestigowe (capital Augsburg ) along the Lech forming the border to Bavaria . Rezia ( Ries , ultimately from the name of the Roman province of Raetia ) in the Northeastern corner, left of the Danube (capital Nördlingen ). Linzgowe ( Linzgau ) and Argungowe (named for Argen River ) north of Lake Constance. Eritgau , Folcholtespara ( Folcholtsbaar ), Rammegowe ( Rammachgau ) and Illargowe (named for
4365-452: The Pious , there were tendencies to renewed independence in Alamannia, and the 830s were marked by bloody feuds between the Alamannic and Rhaetian nobility vying for dominion over the area. Following the Treaty of Verdun of 843, Alamannia became a province of East Francia , the kingdom of Louis the German , the precursor of the Kingdom of Germany . It was called a regnum in contemporary sources, though this does not necessarily mean that it
4462-401: The Rammachgau, rendering the old administrative units, based on counts as being the representative of the central authority, obsolete. The Rammachgau stretched from the south at Altheim , Langenschemmern and Ochsenhausen to the north at Hüttisheim and Dellmensingen , from the west at Ingerkingen to the east at Burgrieden . The Rammachgau was bordered to the south by the Haistergau , to
4559-497: The Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on what Goethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem Hermann and Dorothea . In response to
4656-403: The Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of Württemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793. This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace
4753-520: The anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich . Some of the most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace, notably Kellermann , the victor of Valmy , Kléber , who led the armies of the French Republic in Vendée , and Westermann , who also fought in the Vendée. Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798. At
4850-401: The area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior . As a border province, the Romans built fortifications and military camps, many of which, including Argentoratum (Strasbourg), evolved into modern towns and cities. In 357 CE, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans. With the decline of the Roman Empire , Alsace became
4947-412: The authority of the bishop was challenged by Count Rudolf of Habsburg , who received his rights from Frederick II's son Conrad IV . Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region. In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of free imperial city . A stop on the Paris - Vienna - Orient trade route, as well as
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#17328594078505044-399: The basis of the political organisation of East Francia after the collapse of the Carolingian dynasty in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. In the 10th century, no noble house of Alamannia succeeded in founding a ducal dynasty, as the Ottonians did in Saxony or the Liutpolding in Bavaria, though the Hunfridings came closest. The duchy encompassed the area surrounding Lake Constance,
5141-422: The confluence with the Lech River, with an unclear boundary towards Burgundy to the south-west in the Aare River basin (the Aargau ). Raetia Curiensis , although not part of Alemannia, was ruled by Alemannic counts, and became part of the Duchy of Swabia since it was established by Burchard I (Duke of Alemannia from 909 to 911). The territory corresponds to what is still the area of Alemannic German in
5238-423: The demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation in 1515, where it was to remain until 1798. By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by
5335-423: The east by the Illergau and to the west by the Ruadolteshuntare . To the north the Rammachgau bordered on the territory of the Illergau as well as the Ruadolteshuntare. The area of settlement of the Rammachgau was marked by natural borders except to the north. The populated areas were all in, or in close proximity to, the valleys of the rivers Riß , Rottum and Rot . The borders were marked by large forests on
5432-401: The forest" for their crops and animals." By 100 BCE Germanic peoples, including eventually the Suebi and other tribes under Ariovistus , had begun to intrude into areas along the upper Rhine and Danube long settled by Celtic Gauls. Alsace itself had come to be occupied by the Triboci , a Germanic tribe allied with Ariovistus. In response to the threat posted by Ariovistus , the Aedui ,
5529-403: The hills surrounding the rivers or by swampy areas unsuitable for agriculture . The administrative centre of the Rammachgau was Laupheim . Alamannia Alamannia , or Alemania , was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni , a Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman limes in 213. The Alemanni expanded from the Main River basin during
5626-406: The inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm , following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun ; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia , which was ruled by the eldest grandson Lothar I . Lothar died early in 855 and his realm
5723-437: The language and the adjectival form of "Germany". The following are the known names of early Alemannic kings. They did not necessarily rule all of Alamannia, but were more likely petty kings ruling over smaller tribes or cantons, e.g. Macrian (fl. 370), king of the Alamannic tribe of the Bucinobantes . The Alemanni were under direct Carolingian rule during 746 ( Council of Cannstatt ) to 892. Intermittently, junior members of
5820-401: The modern period, French Alsace , German Baden and Swabia , German-speaking Switzerland and the Austrian Vorarlberg . In the area of present-day Switzerland , the Alemannic territory expanded during the High Middle Ages, with the Walser migration into the Alps, with the Zähringer and later the influence of Bern towards Upper Burgundy , and into Grisons as lower Raetia came under
5917-453: The new Imperial territory of Alsace–Lorraine was under the sole authority of the Kaiser , administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen , many of them resettling in French Algeria as Pieds-Noirs . Only in 1911 was Alsace–Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which
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#17328594078506014-401: The north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south and Lorraine on the west. Several valleys are also found in the région . Its highest point is the Grand Ballon in Haut-Rhin , which reaches a height of 1,424 m (4,672 ft). It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest). The ried lies along the Rhine . Alsace is
6111-427: The number of Maghreban immigrants has risen less than the number of European immigrants. The fastest growing groups of immigrants are those from Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa. Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions. Most of the Alsatian population is Roman Catholic , but, largely because of the region's German heritage, a significant Protestant community also exists: today,
6208-428: The only official language of the Republic. Alsace has an area of 8,283 km , making it the smallest région of metropolitan France . It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between the Rhine in the east and the Vosges mountains in the west. It includes the départements of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (known previously as Sundgau and Nordgau ). It borders Germany on
6305-427: The part of the plain of the Rhine located at the west of the Rhine , on its left bank. It is a rift or graben , from the Oligocene epoch , associated with its horsts : the Vosges and the Black Forest . The Jura Mountains , formed by slip (induced by the alpine uplift) of the Mesozoic cover on the Triassic formations, goes through the area of Belfort . Alsace has an oceanic climate at low altitude and
6402-463: The rebellion of Magnentius . Chnodomarius was the leader of the Alemannic army in the battle of Strasbourg in 357. Macrian , Hariobaudes , Urius , Ursicinus , Vadomarius , and Vestralpus were Alemannic kings who in 359 made treaties with Julian the Apostate . Macrian was deposed in an expedition ordered by Valentinian I in 370. Macrian appears to have been involved in building a large alliance of Alemannic tribes against Rome, which earned him
6499-544: The region Grand Est. Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect closely related to Swabian , although since World War II most Alsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II , the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city,
6596-552: The rest of France, the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, the Jewish population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They were highly segregated and subject to long-standing antisemitic regulations. They maintained their own customs, Yiddish language, and historic traditions within the tightly knit ghettos; they adhered to Jewish law. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services, and banking. They financed about
6693-413: The rivers Rhône and Meuse , and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299 the French proposed a marriage alliance between Blanche (sister of Philip IV of France ) and Rudolf (son of Albert I of Germany ), with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of Belfort was first chartered by the Counts of Montbéliard . During the next century, France
6790-482: The rule of the Werdenberg counts. The Alamanni were pushed south from their original area of settlement in the Main basin and in the 5th and 6th century settled new territory on either side of the Rhine. Alemannia, under Frankish rule (later the Duchy of Swabia) within the Holy Roman Empire, covered a territory that was more or less undisputed during the 7th to 13th centuries, organised into counties or pagi . In Swabia : Hegowe ( Hegau ), between Lake Constance,
6887-423: The same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic . Many of the residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein Abbey , near Basel , in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the French Revolutionary Army of
6984-427: The sum of 1.2 million Thalers . When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia , most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex. Although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain its customs border along
7081-405: The territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France, which is known as the local law . In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German
7178-617: The territory of Alamannia became the Duchy of Swabia in 915. Scribes often used the term Suebia interchangeably with Alamannia in the 10th to the 12th centuries. The territory of Alamannia as it existed from the 7th to 9th centuries centred on Lake Constance and included the High Rhine , the Black Forest and the Alsace on either side of the Upper Rhine , the upper Danube River basin as far as
7275-538: The territory of the Germanic Alemanni . The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine ( Alsatian , Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac , and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia . Under Clovis' Merovingian successors
7372-534: The title of turbarum rex artifex ("king and crafter of unrest"). The Romans installed Fraomar as a successor of Marcian, but the Bucinobantes would not accept him and he was expelled and Macrian restored and Valentinian made the Bucinobantes his foederati in the war against the Franks . Macrian was killed on campaign against the Franks, in an ambush laid by the Frankish king Mallobaudes . Gibuld (fl. 470)
7469-500: The two main Christian denominations). We Germans who know Germany and France know better what is good for the Alsatians than the unfortunates themselves. In the perversion of their French life they have no exact idea of what concerns Germany. The Franco-Prussian War , which started in July 1870, saw France defeated in May 1871 by the Kingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of
7566-555: The upper Danube and the Swabian Jura . Perahtoltaspara ( Berchtoldsbaar ) in the upper Neckar basin, left of the upper Danube as far as Ulm , including the source of the Danube . Nekargowe (named for the Neckar , capital Canstatt ). Swiggerstal (the modern Ermstal ), Filiwigawe (Filsgau, named for the Fils ), Trachgowe ( Drachgau , near Schwäbisch Gmünd ) and Alba ( Albuch ) between
7663-408: The war led to the unification of Germany . Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in the treaty of Frankfurt ; Belfort , the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own,
7760-850: The wells with plague , leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews during the Strasbourg pogrom . Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster was the Rhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins of Basel . Prosperity returned to Alsace under Habsburg administration during the Renaissance . Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to
7857-598: Was a kingdom or subkingdom. At times, however, it was. It was granted to Charles the Bald in 829, though it is not certain whether he was recognised as duke or king. It was certainly a kingdom, including Alsace and Rhaetia, when it was granted to Charles the Fat in the division of East Francia in 876. Under Charles, Alamannia became the centre of the Empire, but after his deposition, it found itself out of favour. Though ethnically singular, it
7954-449: Was a nominal dukedom within Francia. Though ruled by their own dukes, it is not likely that they were very often united under one duke in the 6th and 7th centuries. The Alemanni most frequently appear as auxiliaries in expeditions to Italy. The Duchy of Alsace was Alemannic, but it was ruled by a line of Frankish dukes and the region around the upper Danube and Neckar rivers was ruled by
8051-738: Was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs , who by secret treaty in 1617 had gained a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the Spanish Netherlands , the Spanish Road . Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a free hand in Hungary , the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for
8148-594: Was disestablished with the execution of Conradin and its territory was politically fragmented during the succeeding interregnum period . Alemannic German persists as a separate family of dialects within High German . The distribution of the Low Alemannic and High Alemannic subgroups largely correspond to the extent of historical Alemannia, while the Highest Alemannic dialects spread beyond its limits during
8245-591: Was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia , or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace
8342-621: Was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Part of the province of Germania Superior in the Roman Empire, the area went on to become a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages. Long a center of the German-speaking world, after the end of the Thirty Years' War , southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century. In contrast to other parts of France, Protestants were permitted to practise their faith in Alsace even after
8439-508: Was largely successful until the early 8th century, when a series of campaigns waged by the Arnulfing mayors of the palace reduced Alamannia to a province of Francia once again. It was, however, during this period of de facto independence that the Alamanni began to be ruled by one duke, though Alsace and Rhaetia remained outside of the scope of Alamannia. Between 709 and 712, Pepin of Heristal fought against Lantfrid , who appears as dux of
8536-629: Was manifested also in a flag and an anthem ( Elsässisches Fahnenlied ). In 1913, however, the Saverne Affair ( French : Incident de Saverne) showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity. During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the Kaiserliche Marine and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of
8633-524: Was never formally annexed, Alsace–Lorraine was incorporated into the Greater German Reich , which had been restructured into Reichsgaue . Alsace was merged with Baden , and Lorraine with the Saarland , to become part of a planned Westmark . During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and Lorraine were conscripted into the German armies against their will ( malgré-nous ). There were some volunteers for
8730-564: Was not applied in Alsace. France did endeavour to promote Catholicism. Strasbourg Cathedral , for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681, was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate of religious tolerance . France consolidated its hold with the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen , which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were recognised in
8827-546: Was returned to France by the Allies at the end of World War II . The presence of hominids in Alsace can be traced back 600,000 years. By 4000 BCE farming, in the form of Linear Pottery culture , arrived in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain. The culture was characterized by "timber longhouse settlements and incised pottery ... favoring floodplain edge situations for their permanent villages ... [and] small clearings in
8924-408: Was still plagued by Rhaetian-Alamannic feuds and fighting over the control of the Alamannic church. Alamannia in the late 9th century, like Bavaria, Saxony , and Franconia , sought to unite itself under one duke, but it had considerably less success than either Saxony or Bavaria. Alamannia was one of the jüngeres Stammesherzogtum , one of the "younger" stem duchies, or tribal duchies, which formed
9021-557: Was the Rammachgau . The name of this administrative unit derived from the name of a river, or part thereof, called Rammach . The name of the river was subsequently lost. Contemporary documents refer to this administrative unit as Rammackeuui (778), Rammekevve (894), Rammichgowe (ca. 1070) and Rammechgowe (1099). It has been suggested that the Rammachgau, together with the Nibelgau and
9118-666: Was the largest diocese in Germany throughout the Merovingian and early Carolingian era. The dioceses of Alamannia, including Chur, which had been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan , were placed under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Mainz by the Carolingians. After the death of Dagobert I in 638, Alamannia, like Bavaria, Aquitaine , and Brittany , broke its ties with its Frankish sovereigns and struggled for independence. This
9215-556: Was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France , consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments . Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est . On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of
9312-523: Was to be militarily shattered by the Hundred Years' War , which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel . In 1469, following
9409-431: Was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia . At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of feudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the Holy Roman Empire . Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors . Frederick I set up Alsace as
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