Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administra ...

super-region of France. The name means 'Lower

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) department. Note that both belong to the European

Upper Rhine The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the ...

region. It is, with the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine), one of the two departments of the traditional

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

region which until 1871, also included the area now known as the

Territoire de Belfort The Territoire de Belfort () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, eastern France. It had a population of 141,318 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 67 Bas-Rhin
INSEE The prefecture is based in Strasbourg. The INSEE and Post Code is 67. On 1 January 2021, the departemental councils of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the

European Collectivity of Alsace The European Collectivity of Alsace (french: Collectivité européenne d'Alsace; gsw-FR, D'Europäischa Gebiatskärwerschàft Elsàss; german: Europäische Gebietskörperschaft Elsass) is a territorial collectivity in the Alsace region of France. ...

. The inhabitants of the department are known as or .

Geography

The

has always been of great historical and economic importance to the area, and it forms the eastern border of Bas-Rhin. The area is also home to some of the foothills of the

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

. To the north of Bas-Rhin lies the Palatinate forest ''(Pfälzerwald)'' in the German

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, and the German

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

lies to the east. To the south lies the department of Haut-Rhin, the town of Colmar and southern

, and to the west the department of Moselle. On its south-western corner, Bas-Rhin also joins the department of Vosges.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Strasbourg, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

Climate

The Bas-Rhin has a continental-type climate, characterised by cold, dry winters and hot, stormy summers, due to the western protection provided by the Vosges. The average annual temperature is in the lowlands (Entzheim) and on high ground. The annual maximum temperature is high (). The average rainfall is per year. Established according to data from the Infoclimat station at Strasbourg-Entzheim (the airport), over the period from 1961 to 1990.

Name

This is the last French department to have kept the term ''Bas'' meaning "Lower" in its name. Other departments using this prefix preferred to change their names - e.g.: ''Basses-Pyrénées'' in 1969 became

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...

and ''Basses-Alpes'' in 1970 became the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The same phenomenon was observed for the ''inférieur'' (also meaning "lower") departments such as ''Charente-Inférieure'', ''Seine-Inférieure'', and ''Loire-Inférieure''.

History

Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. On 14 January 1790 the National Constituent Assembly decreed: *"- That Alsace be divided into two departments with Strasbourg and Colmar as their capitals; *- That the Department of Strasbourg will be divided into three districts .. *- That the land of the German princes, coming under the sovereignty of France will be included in the division of districts; *- That Landau, an enclave in the Palatinate, will have special justice .." The borders of Bas-Rhin have changed many times: *In 1793 it absorbed the following territories newly annexed by France: **The County of Sarrewerden; **The County of Drulingen; **The lordship of

Diemeringen Diemeringen () is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department References

Communes of Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin commune ...

; *The lordship of Asswiller of the Steinkallenfels family; *Several communes from the Palatinate *In 1795 the region of Schirmeck - where the people did not speak Alsatian - was detached from the district of Sélestat and attached to Vosges ( District of Senones); *In 1808 some territories east of the Rhine were annexed, especially the city of Kehl; *In 1814, after the first

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

, France gained the territories north of the Lauter from the former department of Mont-Tonnerre and including the city of

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

, but lost all the territories east of the

; *In 1815, following the second

, France lost all the territories north of the Lauter and the department was occupied by troops from Baden and Saxony from June 1815 to November 1818. *In 1871 Bas-Rhin was annexed by Germany (by the Treaty of Frankfurt) and then became ''Bezirk Unterelsass'' in Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen; *In 1919 Bas-Rhin became French again (

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

) and retained the territories that Germany had taken from the department of Vosges in 1871 (the Canton of Schirmeck and Canton of Saales); *Between 1941 and 1944, the

Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp Natzweiler-Struthof was a Nazi concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the villages of Natzweiler and Struthof in the Gau Baden-Alsace of Germany, on territory annexed from France on a basis in 1940. It operated from 21 Ma ...

was in operation *In 1944 Kehl was attached to Bas-Rhin before being reassigned to the new

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1953; *In 1982 the department is included in the newly created

region; *On 7 April 2013 a referendum was held on the creation of a single community in Alsace for joining the Alsace region and the two departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. Strasbourg, the ''chef lieu'' (principal city) of Bas-Rhin is the official seat of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

as well as of the Council of Europe.

Heraldry

Demography

The demography of Bas-Rhin is characterized by high density and high population growth since the 1950s. In January 2014 Bas-Rhin officially had 1,112,815 inhabitants and was 18th by population at the national level. In fifteen years, from 1999 to 2014, its population grew by more than 86,000 people, or about 5,800 people per year. But this variation is differentiated among the 517 communes that make up the department. The population density of Bas-Rhin is 234 inhabitants per square kilometre in 2014 which is more than twice the average in France, which was 112 in 2009.

Changing demographics in Bas-Rhin

The first census was conducted in 1801 and this count, renewed every five years from 1821, provides precise information on the evolution of population in the department. With 540,213 inhabitants in 1831, the department represented 1.66% of the total French population, which was then 32,569,000 inhabitants. From 1831 to 1866, the department gained 48,757 people, an increase of 0.26% on average per year compared to the national average of 0.48% over the same period. Demographic change between the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was higher than the national average. Over this period, the population increased by 100,532 inhabitants, an increase of 16.74%, compared to 10% nationally. The population increased by 9.23% between the two world wars from 1921 to 1936 compared to a national growth of 6.9%. Like other French departments, Bas-Rhin experienced a population boom after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, higher than the national level. The rate of population growth between 1946 and 2007 was 83.83%, compared to 57% nationally.

Economy

The Bas-Rhin department has a high density of SMEs and SMIs and a higher proportion of workers in industry than the national average. Tourism activity is intense and creates many indirect jobs. The rate of unemployment is among the lowest in France: 6.5%. The average GDP per capita is €18,795 which places the region as the second largest in France with 2.9% of national GDP. Employment is distributed in the following way, as a percentage of the labor force: Agriculture: 8,411 or 2% Crafts and industry: 97,349 or 24.2% Building and Public Works: 23,928 or 6.0% Tertiary Sector: 271,984 or 67.8% ''Frontaliers'': 28,186 ;Weighting of the major economic sectors Trades: 11 358 companies comprising: *Supply: 11% *Production: 21% *Building: 37% *Services: 31% Food industry : 568 units employing 15,884 employees Commerce: *Hypermarkets : 15 *Supermarkets : 117 *Other retail: 7,507 including non-food 5,229 Tourism: 3,216 hotels with 11,100 rooms

Law

Alsace and the adjacent Moselle department have a legal system slightly different from the rest of France. The statutes in question date from the period 1871 - 1919 when the area was part of the German Empire. With the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France in 1919, Paris accepted that Alsace and Moselle should retain some local laws in respect of certain matters, especially with regard to hunting, economic life, local government relationships, health insurance and social rights. It includes notably the absence of any formal separation between church and state: several mainstream denominations of the Christian church benefit from state funding, in contrast to principles applied in the rest of France.

Politics

Presidential elections 2nd round

Current National Assembly Representatives

Administration

The seat of the General Council is located in Strasbourg, in a building designed by the architect

Claude Vasconi Claude Vasconi (24 June 1940 - 8 December 2009) was a French architect. Vasconi was born in Rosheim, and was educated at the ''Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et de l'Industrie'' in Strasbourg. In 1964, he set up office in Paris. After desi ...

. The current prefect of the Bas-Rhin is Stéphane Fratacci. The representative of the Lower Rhine for the

National Youth Council A National Youth Council is a representative body made up of youth organizations and young people in a particular state or nation. Many were formed after the second world war to attend the World Festival of Youth and later the World Assembly of Yo ...

is Mr. Gautier Lutz. Bas-Rhin is composed of five arrondissements (Haguenau-Wissembourg, Molsheim, Saverne, Sélestat-Erstein, and Strasbourg) and 23 cantons.

Higher Education

Through its secondary and higher education institutions, Alsace is a very important region for students and is very internationally oriented. Strasbourg alone welcomes 75% of students in its university. Since the merger of three faculties and the IUT of Illkirch and of Schiltigheim it has become one of the largest universities in France. There are also renowned institutions such as the National School of Administration (ENA), the National Institute of Territorial Studies (INET), the Higher European Institute of Management, and the National School of Physics of Strasbourg.

Tourism

The Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg: built in the 12th century, the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg dominates the plain of Alsace more than above sea level. Destroyed during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

, it was restored from 1900 to 1908 by the German Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

. It houses a large collection of weapons and period furniture. The Château du Fleckenstein: early 12th century, built by the imperial family of

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

, the castle was occupied and turned into an impregnable fortress by the Fleckenstein family. Many activities are offered such as the "Castle of challenges". There is a large selection of 20 games crossing the forest and in the secret rooms of the castle to discover life in the Middle Ages. The Château de Lichtenberg: built in the early 13th century on a hill overlooking the village, the site includes contemporary space-related cultural activities. With more than 27 million tourists per year, Bas-Rhin is the 5th largest French department for the number of room-nights for visitors per year. Other sites of interest are: * Château de La Petite-Pierre *Château du Haut-Barr * Château de Diedendorf * Château d'Andlau * Château de Kintzheim

Religious monuments

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

: Strasbourg Cathedral is a masterpiece of

Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern, Southern and ...

. Measuring 142 metres high from the

Parvise A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forecourt, front yard or a ...

to the top of the tower, it is considered the second largest cathedral in France after that of Rouen. Its

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

dates from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and the mechanism dated 1492 is a masterpiece in itself. The Mont Sainte-Odile: a living spiritual place. Rising to 764 metres, this mountain in Vosges is topped by a monastery founded by Saint-Odile, the patron saint of Alsace. It is a tourist attraction and also a place of pilgrimage.

Museums

;Museums in Strasbourg The Alsatian Museum: A museum of art and popular traditions. There is a large collection of utilitarian objects, decorative objects, as well as costumes that depict everyday life in Alsace in the 18th and 19th centuries. The

Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) is an art museum in Strasbourg, France, which was founded in 1973 and opened in its own building in November 1998. One of the largest of its ...

: Located in the heart of the city of Strasbourg, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary houses nearly 18,000 works divided into three departments: fine arts, graphic art, and photography. Some of the greatest innovators of the 20th century are on display. The

Tomi Ungerer Museum Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l’illustration is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. Opened in November 2007, it is dedicated to the work of Strasbourg-born artist Tomi Ungerer and displays 11,000 graphic wo ...

: there is a large collection of drawings, archives, magazines, and toys donated to his hometown by the French illustrator Tomi Ungerer. It also hosts temporary exhibitions. The Palais Rohan: The Rohan Palace was built between 1731 and 1742 at the request of Armand de Rohan-Soubise, Cardinal and

Bishop of Strasbourg {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 These persons were bishop, archbishop or prince-bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg (including historically Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg): Bishops and prince-bishops * Amandus *Justinus ...

, who made his residence in the historic heart of the city. It also hosts the Arts and Crafts Museum, Archaeological Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Second homes

As of 2019, 3.2% of available housing in the department were second homes.

Popular traditions

The stork

The stork is the emblematic bird of Alsace. According to legend, it brings newborn babies wrapped in a cloth tightly in its beak. Having disappeared from the local habitat; it has now returned, being protected and has become an integral part of the landscape. They can be seen mostly on the roofs of public buildings and more on houses.

Traditional costume

The traditional Alsatian costume is a symbol of the region. Although it is usually composed of a black hat and a red skirt, the symbol of Alsace, there are many other outfits that vary between villages but also according to the social status of the person. Today virtually disappeared, they can still be seen in some villages at various events and through folk groups.

Festivals

Many traditionsSe
Departmental Association for tourism
have their origins in a quest for the meaning of life or in the rites of protection e.g. Christian festivals, even today create the rhythm of life in the villages of the region. The four seasons each have their share of celebrations: crop harvest, grape harvest, employers' feast days, crafts, yard sales, local produce. File:Absolute ponts couverts 02.jpg, Covered Bridge at Strasbourg File:14-33-29-ouv-schoenenbourg.jpg, Schoenenbourg Fortification of the Maginot line File:Niederhaslach Church full frontal.jpg, Church at Niederhaslach File:Selestat Tour de l’horloge.jpg, Clock Tower at

Sélestat Sélestat (; Alsatian: ''Schlettstàdt''; German: ''Schlettstadt'') is a commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin department, the town lies on the Ill river, from the Rhine and th ...

References

External links

Prefecture website
*
Collectivité européenne d'Alsace

Departmental Archives of Bas-Rhin

Tourism Development agency for Bas-Rhin

Official website for Tourism in Alsace
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Grand Est States and territories established in 1790