Bourbach-le-Haut

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GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION		CLOSEST TOWNS
Town	Bourbach-le-Haut	Bourbach-le-Bas at 3.9 km (7 min)
Insee code	68046	Masevaux at 5.2 km (10 min)
Postcode	68290	Rammersmatt at 6 km (12 min)
Latitude	47.8015530	Sentheim at 7 km (14 min)
Longitude	7.0287830	Lauw at 7.6 km (15 min)
Altitude	From 439 to 1183 meters	Niederbruck at 7.7 km (16 min)
Surface	6.86 km²	Guewenheim at 8.3 km (16 min)
Population	424 inhabitants	Roderen at 8.8 km (18 min)
Density	59 inhabitants/km²	Kirchberg at 9.3 km (19 min)
Chief town	Colmar (at 58 km, 51 min)	Bitschwiller-lès-Thann at 9.4 km (19 min)
Department	Haut-Rhin	Mortzwiller at 9.5 km (21 min)
Region	Alsace	Search another town

LOCATION

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TOWN PRESENTATION

History:

Originally Bourbach-le-Haut is a hamlet attached to the abbey of Masevaux. First mention of the village appears in a fake diploma manufactured in the 12th century, attributed to Louis the Pious and bearing date of 21 June 823. The village population, decimated in the wake of the Thirty Years War, increases by a large influx of Austria, whose names still remain. Most people were loggers, farmers and sometimes coal, as evidenced by the hill Kohlberg (from Kohle, coal and Berg, mountain) surrounding the village.

During the Revolution, villagers revolt, and in 1792 Bourbach-le-Haut is recognized as an autonomous municipality. In the 19th century, the first civil registers are open, and new activities such as weaving appear. The village is released August 7, 1914. Marshal Joffre in 1914 built the road from Masevaux to Thann. From 1940 to 1944, the inhabitants of the German troops should stay in their homes. Bourbach-le-Haut will lose six men, conscripted by the German uniform. After the Second World War, the village has a significant rural-urban migration is reversed from 1970, stabilizing the population around 280 inhabitants. Today the town has 450 inhabitants: High Bourbachois.

Location:

Nestled in the mountains (650 m and 1200 m up to Waldmatte) as an eagle's nest among the rocks, Bourbach-le-Haut is a typical mountain village which covers 686 ha. A visitor would feel completely enclosed by the peaks crowned with pine forests in the South if he discovered the Alsatian plain that extends to all its glory at his feet. And on a clear day he discovered beyond this range the imposing chain of Bernese Alps: Finsterahorn, Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau, all the giants are there, cutting their dark outline of the lights of the rising sun. The slopes of the Vosges are not as steep as the Alps, but here they are nonetheless wild. Pastures dotted with countless rocks that evolve effortlessly sheep, invite visitors to beautiful walks. How to resist the urge to climb up there? If the rise is a bit difficult to reach the joy at the top will be even larger, up there awaits an unforgettable sight. On one side is the valley of the Thur so beautiful, with small peaks just shaved the other stretches the valley of Masevaux quite different by its flourishing fir forests. While isolated Bourbach-le-Haut seems it would be wrong to believe because the appearances are often misleading. Between these two valleys connected by road takes a village Joffre tourist ever growing importance. By road Joffre, Masevaux is 5 km and 14 km to Thann. In addition, the road leading to Bourbach-le-Bas is Mulhouse 30 km. Is it possible that you are only 70 km from Basel, 27 km from Belfast and 45 miles from Colmar? What is extraordinary and makes it unique is that the center of the circus nature has created a little world geography. The village is divided into many branches following through pretty little valleys. The geographer can distinguish an entire river system in miniature, in which the Bourbach tirelessly pursues its course capriciously across the fields and meadows, over the many rocks that dot. In summer of course, the water level drops significantly, but the trout really like it. This fish has the peculiarity of always swimming against the current, loves to jump over the waterfalls. Everyone knows that no shortage of waterfalls, huge blocks of porphyry, polished by the time machine are so many.

A Bourbach-le-Haut, the word home is not an empty word, since a range of motor homes, accommodation, a restaurant and a farm inn, offering stays off for hikers, fishermen and walkers who want to discover a place to live.

SIGHTSEEING

Geology: The Vosges greywacke rock is the most common and most characteristic in the village, but the ancient green porphyry Bourbach-le-Haut - which comprises the first tomb of Napoleon at the Invalides - which is certainly the most remarkable rock the volcanic massif of Rossberg.

St. Michael's Church: The church of Saint-Michel, built at the initiative of Father Ignatius Stimpfling, replaces an old chapel. In 1909, lightning damaged the bell tower of the shrine. The organ Rinckenbach is set up in 1910. The work of renovation, begun in 1936, was completed in 1964. The small bell is completely covered with copper and receives a third bell. An electric clock is installed.

Saint Michael: The fresco is executed by Michel Saint Gall, a painter of Colmar, which was inspired by the traditional imagery of the Middle Ages. Indeed, this representation refers to the famous Hortus Diliciarium (1175) Herrade of Landsberg (1175), abbess of Mont Saint-Odile. St. Michael is represented in the usual way, the dragon, but also by the Evil One final triumph at the end of time, and heralding the coming of Christ.

Monument of the 1st Battalion of Shock: This stele honors the memory of the soldiers of the 1st battalion of shock, which in November 1944, fought in the neck of Hundsruck and liberated the village of Bourbach-le-Haut. They also opened the way to the valley of the Thur, and reopening the road Joffre, built by French soldiers during the First World War.

Commemorative plaque: a plaque on the fountain erected in the village center captures an unusual national distinction awarded to François Nussbaum, village mayor from 1959 to 1985. In 1973, he was appointed as mayor of the year.

A village green: Under the Gerplan, the town created in 2009 its communal orchard: 80 high-fruit trees and stems of old local varieties have taken root in the village. Also note that the first edition of the festival of the plants is scheduled for summer 2012.

EVENTS AND CELEBRATIONS

If Bourbach-le-Haut is a haven of rest, he also is pleased to be a lively village with the dynamism of its people and a very active community life. The AACT (Association of Cultural Activities and Tourism) seeks to organize throughout the year up to events and activities: Breakfast Mountain (May), late summer (July ), Christmas market (late November) ... It is also behind the project Solid'Air Thur Doller, which takes place every two years in September. Community life and the various news of the village are relayed by the communal bulletin of The Echo Bourbach! And the website of the municipality.

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