Kaysersberg (Alsatian: Kaisersbari) is a former French commune located in the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region. This small town is located in the historical and cultural region of Alsace region and, on January 1, 2016, became a delegated municipality of the new municipality of Kaysersberg Vignoble. Its inhabitants are called the Kaysersbergeois and Kaysersbergeoises.
Church of the Invention-de-la-Sainte-Croix of Kaysersberg (13th -
15th century)
Parish church, dedicated to Holy Cross. It was
started around 1230. The Romanesque portal and the central nave are
from the thirteenth century, while the choir and side naves date
from the fifteenth and sixteenth century. The interior is decorated
with an altarpiece from 1518, the work of Jean Bongart. A triumphant
Christ, with the statues of the Virgin and of Saint John, 15th
century, suspended under the vault of the transept, a Holy Sepulcher
in stone completed in 1514 by the master builder Jacques Wirt, a
moving Lamentation of Christ (1521) , a seated Saint Jacques (1523),
a bust of Saint Blaise, a statue of Saint John (around 1510), a
luminous stained glass window of Calvary, the work of Pierre
d'Andlau of Strasbourg (1470), the Roman baptismal font, are of
'other gems.
Chapels of Kaysersberg
Oberhof Chapel
The chapel and the adjoining property once belonged to the Abbey of
Pairis, near Orbey. It was built in 1391 thanks to the generosity of
Wetzel Berwart, who died in 1396. He is buried in the chapel where
the tombstone is still visible. The building was enlarged and
consecrated a second time in 1473. During the Revolution the chapel
was sold and bought by the former manager Pierre Eckert. Today it
belongs to the Salzmann-Thomann family and houses several polychrome
statues from the 18th and 19th centuries, the centerpieces being a
14th century Madonna and Child and the butt of the Abbess of Alsace.
Saint-Michel Chapel
Saint-Alexis Chapel (16th century)
The Saint-Alexis chapel located in the forest, between the communal
benches of Riquewihr and Fréland was part of an old hermitage until
the 17th century. The town of Kaysersberg then transforms the
hermitage into a farm and rents it out until it sells to individuals
at the beginning of the 19th century. the chapel was restored and
enlarged by Aimé Maire in 1887 with the addition of a rounded choir
and a steeple. It contains a bas relief from the beginning of the
sixteenth century representing the death of Saint-Alexis and
incorporating all the characteristics of the late Gothic style. The
sculpture is presented in a baroque frame bordered on the sides of
fluted columns serving as support for the polychrome statuettes of
Saint Joseph and Saint Madeleine.
St. Wolfgang Chapel
Chapel of Our Lady of the Scapular
The Val d'Orbey was once one of the busiest passages in the Vosges,
and it is to be presumed that it was not neglected by the Romans, who,
according to tradition, had established a military camp there.
Kaysersberg is mentioned for the first time in 1227, when the Emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick II of the Holy Empire, grandson of
Frederick Barbarossa ordered the purchase of the small castle in order
to control the valley of the river. Weiss which connects Haute Alsace to
Lorraine via the Col du Bonhomme.
Apart from a few houses and the
Benedictine convent located half a league upstream from the river, at a
place called Alspach, the entrance to the valley was then uninhabited.
The emperor chose to build there one of the most imposing fortresses
of his line of defense to protect himself from the dukes of Lorraine who
could have taken advantage of this easy passage to invade the Empire.
The town then began a phase of expansion and enrichment.
In 1247,
Henri de Stahleck, bishop of Strasbourg, tried in vain to seize the
city. Taken the following year by Duke Mathieu of Lorraine, it was
occupied in 1261 by Rodolphe de Habsbourg, who had sided with the Bishop
of Strasbourg against his bishop. Having become emperor, he returned
there in 1285. In 1334, Louis of Bavaria engaged him to John, King of
Bohemia, and took him back after a siege in 1336.
To recognize
its importance, King Adolf I of Nassau granted it the same rights and
privileges as those already enjoyed by its neighbor Colmar: on March 18,
1293, Kaysersberg became a city of the Empire. From that moment on, it
only depends on the Emperor: no lord will be able to claim any rights
over it. In 1347, Charles IV freed the citizens of Kaysersberg from any
foreign jurisdiction.
Emperor Charles IV stayed there in the
spring of 1354 where he held an assembly of the free towns of Alsace to
advise on ways to maintain public peace. He turns out to be the great
benefactor of the city, granting him new privileges. He supports with
his authority the creation of the Decapolis, on September 24, 1354.
On this day, ten Alsatian cities come together in a league. They
promise each other assistance and mutual protection. Through the turmoil
of history, the Decapolis will survive for three centuries. Kaysersberg
developed thanks to craftsmanship and in particular to the Alsace wine
trade, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries, the town was
enlarged, despite the protests of the Lord of Ribeaupierre and Lupfen.
The city of Strasbourg was chosen to arbitrate the dispute in 1647.
In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, the rebellious peasants
seized Kaysersberg, abandoning it almost immediately to go and fight the
troops of Duke Antoine at Scherwiller. They were massacred there by the
Lorraine troops.
Maximilian gives him in 1573 as imperial bailiff
Lazare de Schwendi who fought in Hungary and took the city of Tokaj. It
is there that he would have collected some vine plants of the famous
grape variety which he donated to the city of Kaysersberg. These few
plants have multiplied widely and have made the wine reputation of the
city. Count Antoine Henri d'Andlau was the last holder.
The
Thirty Years War will ruin the flourishing city. It will be repopulated
little by little until the French Revolution and then found its
activities of yesteryear.
The city of Kaysersberg contained
before the Revolution, a commandery of the Teutonic Order and a convent
of Récollets; the latter had been, until 1483, in the valley of
Saint-Jean, behind Alspach.
During the revolutionary period of
the National Convention (1792-1795), the town bore the name of
Mont-Libre.
During the 19th century, textile activity developed
in the village.
At the end of the 19th century, a railway line
operated by the KTB then CVK linked Colmar to Lapoutroie via
Kaysersberg.
On December 4, 1944, Kaysersberg becomes the lock of
the pocket of Colmar. The city is put under siege by elements of the
189th ID under the orders of Major Georges Herbrechtsmeier.
On
December 16, 1944, elements of the 36th infantry division accompanied by
a platoon of the 1st regiment of French cuirassiers from Aubure,
occupied the heights above the castle. On December 18, 1944, the tanks
of a Combat command arrived from Riquewihr, through the vineyard, while
the legionnaires descended through the Aspach valley. The evening of the
same day after bitter fighting the German PC surrenders and all the
allied elements make their connection thus liberating Kaysersberg. The
city was damaged by artillery and street fighting, and the town was
awarded the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 on February 12, 1949.
The city is located at the outlet of the Weiss valley in the Alsace
plain, at the entrance to the Lapoutroie and Orbey valleys. It is
dominated by two mountains, one of which is crowned by the ruins of the
Schlossberg.
It is one of the 201 municipalities of the Ballons
des Vosges regional natural park, spread over four departments: the
Vosges, the Haut-Rhin, the Territory of Belfort and the Haute-Saône
Kaysersberg is located on the Alsace wine route.
At the entrance to the city, under the chapel of Saint-Wolfgang,
migmatites outcrop brought back to the Devonian, thanks to the Variscan
orogeny. The host rocks, in this case the grauwackes, form stretched
enclaves within the magma.
Hydrogeology and climatology:
Information system for the management of the Rhine Aquifer, by the BRGM
:
Communal territory: Land use (Corinne Land Cover); Watercourses
(BD Carthage),
Geology: Geological map; Geological and technical
sections,
Hydrogeology: Groundwater bodies; Lisa comics; Piezometric
maps.