Avolsheim

Avolsheim

Avolsheim in winter

Coat of arms
Avolsheim

Coordinates: 48°33′44″N 7°30′07″E / 48.5622°N 7.5019°E / 48.5622; 7.5019Coordinates: 48°33′44″N 7°30′07″E / 48.5622°N 7.5019°E / 48.5622; 7.5019
Country France
Region Grand Est
Department Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement Molsheim
Canton Molsheim
Government
  Mayor (20142020) Françoise Hauss
Area1 1.83 km2 (0.71 sq mi)
Population (2010)2 728
  Density 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 67016 / 67120
Elevation 164–362 m (538–1,188 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Avolsheim is a French commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Avolsheimois or Avolsheimoises.[1]

The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[2]

Geography

Avolsheim is located some 22 km west by south-west of Strasbourg and 18 km north of Obernai. Access to the commune is by the D422 from Odratzheim in the north which passes through the centre of the commune and the town and continues south to Molsheim. The D127 goes east from the town to Dachstein. Apart from the significant sized urban area the commune is mixed forest and farmland.[3]

The Bruche river flows north through the east of the commune and abruptly turns right near the northern border of the commune before continuing east to join a branch of the Rhine at Strasbourg. The Mossig river flows from the north-west forming the northern border of the commune before joining the Bruche.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

The first written record of the name of a village in the current commune dates from the year 788 and is called Hunzolfesheim. It was found in 1051 spelled Avelsheim then Afelsheim in 1350 with a dialectal form Âfelse. In 1496 it was written Afeltzheim and in 1589 Avelssheim again but with two "s". Since then, the village has had its present name and its spelling has not changed.

The prefix offe (offen in German = "open") was the origin of the name Avolsheim and therefore means "Open Town". It is possible that this name was given to the village since it was devoid of walls, which in the Middle Ages was relatively rare.

There is an old local saying in dialect: Es steht offe wie Âfelse ("It is as open as Avolsheim") suggesting that at one time the steeple at Avolsheim, which remained so long in ruins so was "open to the sky", that this could have been the origin of its name. This argument, with the previous one, are confirmed by the popular phrase, Fescht wie Landau un Offe wie Âfelse meaning "A Fort (or fortified) like Landau or open like Avolsheim".

History

Milestone limiting the ban of Avolsheim

Until the Revolution

Avolsheim is located on the Gallo-Roman road linking Molsheim to Saverne. Many objects dating from this period were excavated in 1930.

In the 10th century the area had two distinct hamlets: Avelsheim one hand, corresponding roughly to the current village, and Tumpfieter, Dompieter, or Domphietenheim, a village consisting of a group of a few farms and a mill located at a church called the Dompeter.

The last mention of this hamlet was in the 16th century. It probably died as a village by the end of the same century. For some historians doubt remains: it may have disappeared in the 17th century, its destruction following the Siege of Dachstein by the armies of Turenne.

According to the papal bull of Leo IX in 1051 Avolsheim, including the Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey, was part of the possessions of the bishopric of Strasbourg.

Avolsheim was put in vassalage to the Counts of Ostoffen, then to von Murnhart in 1384, and finally remained with von Beger until 1521. From 1534 until the Revolution, the area was a fief of the dignitaries of the diocese.

Since the French Revolution

The village has been linked to the sub-prefecture of Molsheim since the Revolution.

Avolsheim was once on the Sélestat to Saverne railway line before the section from Molsheim to Saverne was removed in 1967 and replaced with a bicycle path.

Heraldry

Blazon:

Azure, a wheel Or of eight spokes, crowned the same, the hub and spokes in chief disappeared.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors[4]

From To Name Party Position
2001 2008 Gilbert Vetter
2008 2014 Gérard Gendre
2014 2020 Françoise Hauss

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 728 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population Change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
416 412 486 533 609 700 661 803 695
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
688 696 742 679 650 632 668 668 610
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
569 562 561 522 542 519 502 474 441
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2010 -
478 487 513 513 567 657 698 728 -

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Culture and heritage

The Dam on the Bruche

Civil heritage

The commune has many buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

Other sites of interest

The Avolsheim Dam was built in 1682 on the Bruche Canal that was built by Vauban. This canal was used to transport blocks of sandstone to Strasbourg from quarries at Soultz-les-Bains and Wolxheim which were necessary for the construction of the Citadel of Strasbourg. This dam enabled the keeping of the water level high enough to supply the canal located a little further down.

Religious heritage

The Chapel of Saint-Ullrich

The commune has two religious buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

The Church of Saint-Materne
Other religious buildings
The Church of Dompeter

See also

Bibliography

Notes

  1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

  1. Inhabitants of Bas-Rhin (French)
  2. Avolsheim in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom Archived December 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. (French)
  3. Google Maps
  4. List of Mayors of France (French)
  5. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006088 Vineyard Farmhouse at 3 Rue de la Boucherie (French)
  6. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006089 Vineyard Farmhouse at 4 Rue de Dompeter (French)
  7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006085 Audéoud House or Maison des Soeurs at 1 place de l'Ecole (French)
  8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006086 Stonemason's House at 2 place de l'Ecole (French)
  9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006090 Vineyard Farmhouse at 4 Place de l'Eglise (French)
  10. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006083 Guardhouse at 16 Rue de la Paix (French)
  11. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006091 Vineyard Farmhouse at 2 Rue de la Paix (French)
  12. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006092 Boatman's House at 5 Rue de la Paix (French)
  13. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006084 Former Presbytery now Town Hall at 8 Rue de la Paix (French)
  14. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006093 Fisherman's House at 9 Rue de la Paix (French)
  15. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006087 Stonemason's House at 2 bis Rue Saint-Ullrich (French)
  16. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006094 Farmhouse at 5 Route du Vin (French)
  17. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006080 Houses and Farms (French)
  18. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006082 Chapel of Saint Ullrich (French)
  19. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00084593 Chapel of Saint Ullrich (French)
  20. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009642 Monumental Painting (French)
  21. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009641 Altar (French)
  22. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA67006081 Parish Church of Saint-Materne (French)
  23. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM67000019 Statue: Virgin and child (French)
  24. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM67000018 Statue: Virgin and child (French)
  25. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM67000016 Processional Cross (French)
  26. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009640 Bronze Bell (French)
  27. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009639 2 Bronze Bells (French)
  28. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009638 Organ (French)
  29. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009637 Processional Cross (2) (French)
  30. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009636 Processional Cross (1) (French)
  31. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009649 Wayside Cross: Mount Calvary: Flagellation of Christ at Chemin Werwelweg (French)
  32. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009648 Wayside Cross: Climbing Mount Calvary at C.D. 121 (French)
  33. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009647 Wayside Cross N called Bildstock (French)
  34. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009646 Wayside Cross: Christ on the Cross at Route du Vin (French)
  35. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009645 Wayside Cross F called Bildstock (French)
  36. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009644 Relief: Bélier at 1 Place de l'Ecole (French)
  37. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM67009643 Wayside Cross: Christ on the Cross (H) at Route du Vin (French)
  38. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM67000017 2 Statues: Saint Catherine and Saint Apolline (French)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avolsheim.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.