History and jobs of the past

Let’s discover the villages of the plain in the land barr bernstein to study a little bit the past: the generations left us many trails of their lives, such as houses, wells, fountains and wine-presses, but also religious monuments.

Valff and its religious monuments.  Small village of 1300 inhabitants, dating from the prehistorical period, Valff has three churches. A synagogue existed on the 1st floor of a private house in the main street. Then the house was sold to a farmer and is now used as a farm hangar. You can also see in the village a mill and a well.

Goxwiller, wine growing and agriculture.  In the village centre, the previous backery ‘House Peter’ was in function from the 17th till the 19th century. It is now still used to make bread for village festivals. Just behind, a screw wine-press from 1669 is still on place, as well as 6 wells in the whole village: they were used to provide water for the cattle and 2 of them are from the 16th century. In the past, the activities of the village were: joinery, tannery, binding and clog factory. Those activities still exist, except the binding

Zellwiller & its roadside crosses  Zellwiller used to have a harbour on the Andlau river, where wine barrels were transported to Strasbourg. The inhabitants lived of agriculture and breeding. Whereas Lords used to hunt there.  You can discover 6 roadside crosses in the village, as well as two churches and a chapel. 5 of the calvaries are situated in the centre and one in the vineyards. They were built between the 18th and the 20th centuries

Eichhoffen, the heart of the land barr bernstein.  At the north entry of the village, an old washery can be seen. On one of the two churches of the village, the St Jean-Baptiste Chapel, there are some trails of bullets, from the Second World War. It is also the village where Matthias Ringmann was born in 1482: a known humanist who gave the name “America”, to the continent discovered by Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci. He lived in Reichsfeld.

Bernardvillé & its abbey church  In this village situated between mountain and vineyards, shepherds employed by monks built the first houses. There was indeed in this place a former Abbey church which has now disappeared. It was built in 1125. A Chapel of the 14 Intercessors, of 1530, is situated just near, and the church of the village has a Stiehr - Mockers organ.

Blienschwiller, former roman village  Until the French Revolution, this village, its neighbour Nothalten and the village Zell which has now disappeared, were together one village. Nothalten and Zell were a roman ‘oppidum’. Wine was produced there from the Middle Age. A tillemaking industry existed in the 18th century, as well as a coal extraction. A little factory produced silk gloves till the 19th century.

Reichsfeld & its vineyards  Reichsfeld is a small village situated away from the main roads, at the bottom of valley of the Schernetz. The houses nestle in an undulating landscape. The coat of arms shows Saint-Urbain (the name of the church), patron saint of wine-growers, and bear witness to the early wine-growing vocation of this village, situated at the foot of the Ungersberg. It was in 1323 that the name of the locality was heard for the first time. The village was a possession of the nobles of Andlau from the XVth century to the Revolution.