Dietwiller (; ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means '' Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is t ...

department in

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 ...

in eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It forms part of the

Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération The Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération is the ''Communauté d'agglomération'', a type of local government structure, covering the metropolitan area of the city of Mulhouse in the department of Haut-Rhin and the region of Grand Est, northeastern Fra ...

, the inter-communal local government body for the

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

conurbation.

History

The Thalbahn Habsheim ran through Dietwiller. It was a long

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway with a gauge of . It was built during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

by German soldiers and Romanian prisoners of war as a military light railway. Many prisoners of war died due to malnutrition, forced labor and the poor living conditions and were buried in the Romanian cemetery in Dietweiler.Paul Erhart
''Histoire du chemin de fer militaire reliant la Hardt à Altkirch pendant la guerre 1914-18…''
/ref>

History

See also