Gambsheim
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Gambsheim is a commune in the
Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...
department and
Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of north-eastern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, in the historical region of
Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
.


Geography

Gambsheim lies adjacent to a river-crossing into Germany that is favoured by southbound traffic on the
A35 autoroute The A35 autoroute is a toll free motorway in northeastern France. It is also known as the ''Autoroute des cigognes'' and the ''Voie Rapide du Piémont des Vosges''. It connects the German border in the Rhine valley with the Swiss frontier v ...
wishing to avoid traffic delays around
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. The crossing coincides with the location of a large river lock which, like the similar French-German cooperation project at Iffezheim Lock, is also the site of a power station and one of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
's first
fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...
s. The latter was installed to support migratory fish in general and, more specifically, in an attempt to restore the abundant
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
population for which the upper Rhine was famous before the early 20th century, when the installation of a series of locks rendered the river navigable beyond
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
for boats, but blocked it for migrating fish.


Population


Landmarks

* The church of St Nazaire. * Gambsheim lock gates (
Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...
). * Town hall, built in 1823 to replace an 18th-century building.Patrimoine - La mairie
* Gambsheim hydroelectrical power plant; established in 1967, it produces 141 MW.


See also

*
Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):The Gambsheim fish ladder
(In French) Bas-Rhin communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Communes of Bas-Rhin {{BasRhin-geo-stub