Le Valtin

Le Valtin
region	Grand Est
Department	Vosges
Arrondissement	Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
Canton	Gerardmer
Community association	Hautes Vosges
Coordinates	48 ° 6 ' N , 7 ° 1' E Coordinates: 48 ° 6 ' N , 7 ° 1' E
height	704-1,304 m
surface	19.64 km 2
Residents	74 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	4 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	88230
INSEE code	88492
	; Mairie Le Valtin

Le Valtin is a French commune with 74 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Vosges department in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Lorraine ). It belongs to the Arrondissement of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and the Hautes Vosges municipal association .

geography

Location of the commune of Le Valtin in the Vosges department

The municipality of Le Valtin is twelve kilometers northeast of Gérardmer and about 35 kilometers west of the city of Colmar (as the crow flies). The village extends in the far east of the department in the southwest Vosges . The eastern municipal border with Alsace is located on the Vosges ridge, which with the peaks Gazon du Faing , Tanet and Le Wurzelstein reaches over 1200 meters above sea level.

The church and the town hall ( Mairie ) are 762 meters above sea level - Le Valtin is the highest municipality in Lorraine.

The 19.64 km² large municipal area includes the uppermost section of the Meurthetal . The Meurthe rises at the Col de la Schlucht in the southern tip of the municipality. The 1139 m high pass is an important traffic axis between the Alsace and Lorraine regions. The Meurthe valley basin is deeply cut into the surrounding heights. The community area is predominantly forested, agricultural areas in valleys are limited to pastureland; Some locations above 1000 meters are also unforested and serve as summer pastures for sheep.

The Meurthetal, which opens to the north, and heights over 1000 meters above sea level are considered to be snow reliable in the Vosges.

Neighboring communities of Le Valtin are Plainfaing in the north, Soultzeren in the east, Stosswihr in the south-east, Xonrupt-Longemer in the south-west and Ban-sur-Meurthe-Clefcy in the north-west.

history

The place name appeared as Sant Veltin for the first time in 1472. The area around Valtin was under the Duke of Lorraine . The eastern part of the former place with widely scattered farms on the upper reaches of the Kleine Meurthe ( Petite Meurthe ) is now called Le Grand Valtin a district of the municipality of Ban-sur-Meurthe-Clefcy . From the western part ( Petit-Valtin ), a branch of the Bailiwick of Saint-Dié and a parish of the parish in Fraize , today's parish of Le Valtin emerged.

Valtin initially had only one chapel, founded by the Rappoltstein family . The church, built in 1704, was dedicated to Saint New Year's . It was part of the diocese and the deanery of Saint-Die. The Mairie (town hall and former boys 'school building) was built in 1820, the construction of the girls' school followed in 1864.

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2007	2017
Residents	112	115	90	87	101	98	94	74
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

Attractions

Saint-Sylvestre church from 1704

Southeast side of the church

Southwest side of the church

Economy and Infrastructure

Agriculture today only plays a subordinate role in the upper Meurthe region. There are five farms in the community (cultivation of medicinal plants, breeding of horses, sheep and goats). Due to the abundance of forests in the Vosges, forestry has a long tradition. The main livelihood in the municipality today is tourism. Numerous hotels and pensions are booked especially in the winter months (ski areas Col de la Schlucht, Grand Valtin-Vimbar and Hautes-Navières with several lifts).

Le Valtin is located between the two pass roads over the Col de la Schlucht and the Col du Bonhomme . Another road connects Le Valtin with Gérardmer via Xonrupt-Longemer . A few meters in altitude below the Vosges ridge runs the Route des Crêtes tourist road , on which cross-country trails are sometimes groomed in winter.