Meisenthal
| Meisenthal | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Grand Est | |
| Department | Moselle | |
| Arrondissement | Sarreguemines | |
| Canton | Bitche | |
| Community association | Pays de Bitche | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 58 ′ N , 7 ° 21 ′ E | |
| height | 255-431 m | |
| surface | 6.36 km 2 | |
| Residents | 699 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 110 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 57960 | |
| INSEE code | 57456 | |
Meisenthal is a French commune with 699 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Moselle department in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Lorraine ). It belongs to the Sarreguemines arrondissement and the Bitche canton and is part of the cross-border Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges biosphere reserve .
geography
Meisenthal is located about 15 kilometers south of Bitche on the border with the Bas-Rhin department in the heart of the Vosges du Nord Regional Nature Park ( Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord ). After Saarbruecken is around 40 kilometers, according to Kaiserslautern about 60 kilometers.
history
A Meisenbach glassworks was first mentioned in 1704, then under its current name in 1711. The village emerged in the 16th century around an earlier glassworks called Glasthal , which was abandoned in the following century. The glassworks is the reason for the glass cup in the municipality's coat of arms.
The glassworks ceased operations in 1969, leaving two thermometer factories and a mirror production facility.
Population development
| year | 1817 | 1852 | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2007 | 2017 |
| Residents | 405 | 735 | 856 | 876 | 812 | 828 | 793 | 766 | 773 | 699 |
Culture and sights
The well-known Art Nouveau artist Émile Gallé worked in Meisenthal and made glass objects here. Today there is a museum in Meisenthal as well as an international center for glass art ( Center International d'Art Verrier , CIAV). a. works with the Saar College of Fine Arts . The CIAV is particularly famous for the glass Christmas tree decorations made there . This invention allegedly goes back to the Meisenthal area, when a harvest was poor in the 19th century and the fruits used to decorate the Christmas tree were scarce. The museum is located in the Maison du Verre et du Cristal , where you can also watch glassblowers at work.
Worth seeing
- Maison du Verre et du Cristal , a glass and crystal museum
- Breitenstein , also known as the Twelve Apostle Stone , a monolith with a wayside shrine
- Colonne de Meisenthal , a column erected at the time of Napoleon
- Dreipeterstein , a historical landmark
- Oak Georgel and the Oak of Freedom
- Glasthal , a glassworks from the 16th century
Personalities
The wood sculptor Stephan Balkenhol (* 1957) temporarily lives in Meisenthal.
Web links
- Meisenthal on bitscherland.fr (French)