Schorbach () 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 Moselle department 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 It superseded three former administra ...

administrative region in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The village belongs to the

Pays de Bitche The Pays de Bitche (, literally ''Land of Bitche'', german: Bitscherland or ) is a natural region located in the Moselle department of the Grand Est region of France. It corresponds to the present French part of the former principality of Zweibr ...

. Schorbach had 551 residents. The residents refer to themselves as ''Schorbachois'', and are also known by the sobriquet ''Wurschtfresser'', a name that refers to the annual ''Wurschtfescht'' (sausage feast) that is celebrated on

Saint Rémi Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event ...

's day.

Geography

Schorbach is a few kilometres South of the border with the Palatinate (Germany), North-east of

Bitche Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a commune in the Moselle department, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city and the seat of the Canton of Bitche and the communauté ...

. The commune is part of the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve.

History

The name ''Schor-Bach'', probably meaning turtle-stream, is first seen in 1210. The place was long part of Zweibrücken-Bitsch. Schorbach was an early seat of a church congregation, served by the Hornbach monastery, and until 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 ...

it remained the central church for the surrounding villages. At the start of

World War II 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 opposing ...

, the inhabitants were evacuated to the Département of Charente. Schorbach was liberated by American troops on the 16th of March 1945.

Population

Culture

The church of Saint Rémi, built on the site of a previous church inaugurated in 1143, on a rock overlooking the town, was the central parish church of the

for many centuries. The founder of the church is unknown, but local history frequently ascribes the foundation to Berthold von Eberstein, whose son Eberhard III resigned his right of patronage at the nearby Sturzelbronn abbey. Eberhard's daughter married Count Henri II of Zweibrücken-Bitsch. A square tower survives from the time of the foundation of the church, but the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is Gothic. In 1774 the church, which had fallen into ruin, was comprehensively restored. Schorbach is also known for the Ossarium at the entrance of the old churchyard, which dates from either the 12thFranz Xaver Krauss, ''Kunst und Altertum in Elsass-Lothringen'', tome III, Strasbourg, 1889. or 15thMarie-France Jacops, Jacques Guillaume, Didier Hemmer: ''Le Pays de Bitche (Moselle)'', Inventaire général des monuments et des richesses artistiques de la France, Région Lorraine, Ed. Serpenoise, Metz, 1990 (p.121). century, according to different sources.

References

External links

Schorbach at bitscherland.fr
(French) {{authority control Communes of Moselle (department)