Birch forest
| Birch forest | ||
|---|---|---|
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| local community | Sommerau | |
| region | Grand Est | |
| Department | Bas-Rhin | |
| Arrondissement | Saverne | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 40 ′ N , 7 ° 21 ′ E | |
| Post Code | 67440 | |
| Former INSEE code | 67041 | |
| Incorporation | January 1, 2016 | |
| status | Commune déléguée | |
 Former Mairie and school building |
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Birkenwald is a commune déléguée in the French commune of Sommerau with 317 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Alsace ) in France .
The community of Birkenwald was merged with Allenwiller , Salenthal and Singrist on January 1, 2016 to form Commune nouvelle Sommerau. She was a member of the Communauté de communes de la Sommerau .
Birch forest lies on the edge of the Northern Vosges . The neighboring communities were Dimbsthal and Salenthal in the northeast, Allenwiller in the east, Wangenbourg-Engenthal in the southeast and Hengwiller in the northwest. In the south, the street village is delimited by a forest .
Birkenwald Castle
Birkenwald Castle is located in the center of the village. The foundation walls were built around 800. In a letter dated February 17, 893, the Empress Richardis , the founder of the Andlau Abbey , had ceded certain hereditary properties to this monastery that she had reserved for itself in the Vosges, including above all Birkenwald or much more Bürckwald , as it was called at the time. The abbesses of Andlau left Bürckwald to knights of the country as a fief. In 1562, Nikolaus Jakob von Ingenheim built the castle in its present form. The date of the reconstruction can be read on a gate on the north side. The castle passed through many hands, including those of French aristocrats who added “von Birkenwald” to their family name long before Alsace was part of France. For a few years after the French Revolution, the castle belonged to a member of the Grimaldi-Monaco family, who was Napoleon's adjutant , and a member of the Dortal family. In his youth, Charles de Foucauld , who was related to the owners at the time, often spent his holidays in the castle. Today the castle is privately owned.
The coat of arms of those of Birkenwald has the following form:
Blue with a silver angle, has two golden pine cones at the top of the shield, which start from a common stem and lean to both sides, and at the bottom a striding golden bear. A count's crown above the shield.
The plot of the youth book Der goldene Bangle by Serge Dalens ( fr ) takes place for the most part in Schloss Birkenwald. The book was a bestseller with a circulation of millions and still inspires many readers to visit Birkenwald Castle today.
Other buildings
- The village school and the municipal administration are housed in the same building.
- Notre-Dame chapel
- Saint-Louis church
Population development
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 225 | 232 | 217 | 208 | 228 | 253 | 281 | 317 |
literature
- Serge Dalens: The gold bracelet. Alsatia, Colmar 1948.
- Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Saverne et Environs (ed.): Pays d'Alsace Cahier N ° 215b. It: La Seigneurie de Birkenwald by Abbé Robert Metzger. ISSN 0245-8411
- Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Saverne et Environs (ed.): Du Chateau de Birkenwald aux Rochers du Schneeberg by Joseph Wetta. Bulletins trimestriels, Cahier 40, IV / 1962.
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Bas-Rhin . Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Charenton-le-Pont 1999, ISBN 2-84234-055-8 , pp. 631-634.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Felix Wolff: Elsässisches Burgen-Lexikon. Directory of castles and chateaus in Alsace . Weidlich, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-8035-1008-2 .