Molsheim
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Molsheim
Molse | |
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Subprefecture and commune | |
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 Coat of arms | |
Location of Molsheim  | |
  Molsheim  Molsheim | |
| Coordinates: 48°32′N 7°29′E / 48.54°N 7.49°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Bas-Rhin |
| Arrondissement | Molsheim |
| Canton | Molsheim |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Laurent Furst (PR) |
Area 1 | 10.85 km2 (4.19 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | 9,359 |
| • Density | 860/km2 (2,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 67300 /67120 |
| Elevation | 165–371 m (541–1,217 ft) (avg. 180 m or 590 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Molsheim (French pronunciation: [mɔl.sajm]) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The total population in 2006 was 9,382. Molsheim had been a very fast-growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,331 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt since.[2] The metropolitan area of Molsheim had 11,760 inhabitants in 2006, from 7,747 in 1968.[3]
Cityscape
The old town of Molsheim is well preserved and contains a considerable number of old houses and buildings of typically Alsatian architecture. The most notable buildings are the medieval Tour des Forgerons, the Renaissance Metzig, the baroque (although built in late gothic style) Eglise des Jésuites – an inordinately large church insofar as it could house the entire population of the town when built – and the classical Hôtel de ville. The former monastery La Chartreuse, partly destroyed in the French Revolution, now houses a museum; covering an area of 3 hectares (7.4 acres), it used to be a genuine city within the city.
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Nave and choir of Église des Jésuites -
Porte des forgerons -
Cloister of the former Chartreuse (Carthusian monastery) -
Metzig (lateral view) -
Town hall -
House of canons -
Hôtel de la monnaie (old money manufacture) -
Railway station
History
Excavations carried out to the north of Mosheim in 1935 revealed the presence of many Merovingian tombs (sixth and seventh centuries), along the old Roman road going to Avolsheim. "Mollesheim" was first mentioned about 820, in a deed of donating a vineyard of the bishop Adeloch to the chapter of Saint-Thomas. Bishop Adeloch is buried in the church of Saint-Thomas in Strasbourg.
In 1219, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II granted the town many rights and franchises. By 1263 Molsheim was already surrounded by a wall which, in the medieval sense, made town a city. However, the bishops of Strasbourg continued to own properties in Molsheim, resulting in conflicts iwth the Germanic emperors, a quarrel that was resolved in 1308 in favor of Bishop Jean de Dürbheim (German: Johann I. von Straßburg). Jean de Dürbheim enlarged the city wall in 1318 and built a château. When the bishop died in 1328, he was entombed in the chapel of a hospice he had founded, the future site of the Jesuit church, which is the present parish church of Molsheim. His tomb is still visible today.
Molsheim was part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1648, when it found itself located on the French side of the border. Between 1871 and 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944, the German speaking city was part of Germany.
A number of Merovingian tombs, dating from the sixth and seventh centuries were discovered in 1935 to the north of the town, on the Roman road leading from Avolsheim.
Coat of Arms
The town's coat of arms features a breaking wheel of gold, in which a nude man with a golden halo is interlaced and bound, against an azure field. The coat of arms is based on a seal of 1263 representing the martyrdom of Saint George.
Economy
Molsheim is notable as the home of the Bugatti automotive industry factory. Production of the Bugatti Veyron by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. restarted in Dorlisheim near Molsheim in 2005.
See also
References
- ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ "Commune: Molsheim (67300)". INSEE. Archived from the original on 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ "Aire urbaine 1999: Molsheim (341)". INSEE.[permanent dead link]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Molsheim". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 677.
External links
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| Geographic | |
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