Munster (, ) 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
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 It superseded three former administr ...
in north-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 is located in the valley of the river
Fecht, in the
Vosges
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 singl ...
mountains about 15 kilometres west of
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it i ...
on the D417 road to the
Col de la Schlucht and
Épinal
Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department.
Geography
The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...
.
The town's inhabitants are known in French as ''munstériens''.
The site of a 7th-century
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
or
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...
, which gave the place its name, it is famous for its
cheese (the
Munster cheese
Munster (), Munster-géromé, or ( Alsatian) Minschterkaas, is a soft cheese with a subtle taste, made mainly from milk first produced in the Vosges, between the Alsace-Lorraine and Franche-Comté regions in France. The name "Munster" is der ...
).
In the nearby village of
Gunsbach,
Albert Schweitzer
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...
grew up in the late 19th century, when the region was known as
Elsaß-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) and was part of the
German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The village is home to the international Albert Schweitzer association
AISL (Association Internationale Schweitzer Lambaréné).
*
Dom George Franck (c.1690 – 1760) organist and composer was born in Munster.
File:Munster, straatzicht met l'église protestante en l’église catholique op de achtergrond foto3 2013-07-23 16.55.jpg, View to a street with reformed church and catholic church in the background
File:Munster, straatzicht Place du Marché-rue Saint-Gregoire-Grand Rue met stadhuis PA00085551 foto4 2013-07-23 17.00.jpg, View to a street: Place du Marché-rue Saint-Gregoire-Grand Rue with townhall
File:Munster, straatzicht Rue du 9e Zouaves foto5 2013-07-23.jpg, View to a street: Rue du 9e Zouaves
See also
*
Communes of the Haut-Rhin département
The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):[Munster cheese
Munster (), Munster-géromé, or ( Alsatian) Minschterkaas, is a soft cheese with a subtle taste, made mainly from milk first produced in the Vosges, between the Alsace-Lorraine and Franche-Comté regions in France. The name "Munster" is der ...]
References
External links
Tourism office website*
Flickr Munster
Communes of Haut-Rhin
Free imperial cities
Décapole
Haut-Rhin communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{HautRhin-geo-stub