Molsheim (; ) is a commune and a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

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 in

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 It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

in 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 ...

.Commune de Molsheim (67300)
INSEE The total population in 2017 was 9,312. Molsheim had been a very fast-growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,335 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt since. The

urban unit In France, an urban unit () is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grou ...

of Molsheim had 26,925 inhabitants in 2017, from 16,888 in 1968. Molsheim is part of the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

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 ...

Cityscape

The old town of Molsheim is well preserved and contains a considerable number of old houses and buildings of typically Alsatian architecture. The most notable buildings are the medieval ''Tour des Forgerons'', the Renaissance ''Metzig'', the baroque (although built in late gothic style) '' Église des Jésuites'' – an inordinately large church insofar as it could house the entire population of the town when built – and the classical ''Hôtel de ville''. The former monastery '' La Chartreuse'', partly destroyed in the French Revolution, now houses a museum; covering an area of , it used to be a genuine city within the city. File:France Molsheim Eglise des Jesuites Nef.jpg, Nave and choir of Église des Jésuites Image:Porte des forgerons.jpg, Porte des forgerons File:Cloitre Molsheim.JPG, Cloister of the former ''Chartreuse'' (Carthusian monastery) File:Metzig Molsheim.JPG, Metzig (lateral view) File:Molsheim - Hôtel de ville -1.JPG, Town hall File:Molsheim - Maison de chanoines - 16 rue Jenner.JPG, House of canons File:Hotel de la Monnaie Molsheim.JPG, ''Hôtel de la monnaie'' (old money manufacture) File:TERAlsace LigneStDié Molsheim BatVoyageurs.JPG, Railway station

History

Excavations carried out to the north of Molsheim in 1935 revealed the presence of many

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

tombs (sixth and seventh centuries), along the old Roman road going to Avolsheim. "Mollesheim" was first mentioned about 820, in a deed of donating a vineyard of the bishop Adeloch to the chapter of Saint-Thomas. Bishop Adeloch is buried in the church of Saint-Thomas in

. In 1219, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II granted the town many rights and franchises. By 1263 Molsheim was already surrounded by a wall which, in the medieval sense, made the town a city. However, the bishops of Strasbourg continued to own properties in Molsheim, resulting in conflicts with the Germanic emperors, a quarrel that was resolved in 1308 in favor of Bishop Jean de Dürbheim (German: Johann I. von Straßburg). Jean de Dürbheim enlarged the city wall in 1318 and built a

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

. When the bishop died in 1328, he was entombed in the chapel of a hospice he had founded, the future site of the Jesuit church, which is the present parish church of Molsheim. His tomb is still visible today.

Molsheim as a center of the Counter-Reformation

The strength of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in the

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 ...

and especially

put pressure on Catholic institutions. In 1580 Laurent Gutjahr, the abbot of Altorf, acquired property in Molsheim; the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

, established since the 11th century in Altorf, a town lacking fortifications, moved here for safety behind the ramparts of Molsheim. Also in 1580, the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

established a school in Molsheim which

Leopold V, Archduke of Austria Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria (9 October 1586 – 13 September 1632) was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, and the younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand II, father of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria. ...

. Similarly, in 1591, due to the suppression of the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the ...

, members of the order moved to Molsheim and built a convent, the splendid stained glass of which was partly destroyed during the French Revolution. The stained glass that survived the Revolution was eventually transferred to Strasbourg. In 1592, with the death of the bishop Jean de Manderscheid, a conflict arouse between the catholic parishioners of Molsheim and the protestant majority in the chapter of the diocese of Strasbourg, who elected

Johann Georg von Brandenburg Johann Georg ohn Georgevon Brandenburg (16 December 1577 – 2 March 1624) was a German nobleman and Protestant ecclesiastic in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the administrator (bishop) of Strasbourg from 1592 until 1604 and the Duke of Jägernd ...

) as the bishop of Strasbourg; in opposition the catholics elected

Charles of Lorraine (bishop of Metz and Strasbourg) Charles of Lorraine (1 July 1567 – 24 November 1607) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Metz (from 18 July 1578) and Strasbourg (from 1 July 1592). Pope Sixtus V made him a cardinal-deacon in 1589, and in 1591 gave him the titular church of Sant ...

. This resulted in the Strasbourg Bishops' War (1592–1604), with a dismal effect on Molsheim. In 1618 the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

broke out, ending with the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

in which control of Molsheim was transferred from the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

to France. Molsheim was part of the

until 1648, when it found itself located on the French side of the border. Between 1871 and 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944, the German speaking city was part of Germany.

Coat of arms

The town's coat of arms features a

breaking wheel The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century ...

of gold, in which a nude man with a golden halo is interlaced and bound, against an azure field. The coat of arms is based on a seal of 1263 representing the martyrdom of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

Language

Historically, several languages have been spoken in the

region (which included Molsheim), depending on what nation or country has claimed this region and whether some language was imposed or, was willingly adopted. The

history of Alsace The history of Alsace has been influenced by the Rhine and its tributaries, a favorable climate, fertile loess soils, and the region's relative accessibility through and around the Vosges. It was first inhabited by early modern humans during the P ...

records such power struggles and language swaps. Linguistically speaking, this city is located in what is considered the Northern Low Alemannic zone of the historical region of Alsace. Prior to the intense "francophonization" in that and other regions of France, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, that dialect of Alsatian, which itself is a derivative of the mentioned Low Alemannic German dialect, was spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Molsheim. Currently, most people in Molsheim can speak French, which is rapidly replacing Alsatian as the latter declines.

Toponymy

It was attested in the form "Mollesheim" (Molles + heim) around 820. (See History of Molsheim). Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing did not comment on the origin of the first element, Molles-, they simply associated it with the name of another town, Molring (called "Mollering" around 1304) which would be formed with the surname Moller. Moller might be an alternative spelling of Möller, which, in turn, is a variant of Müller ("miller"). The at the end of Moller would have been assimilated to . Ernest Nègre explains this toponym by the Germanic personal name Mudila + suffix -heim (home, house, small settlement, village) from Proto-Germanic through Old High German. Leon Dominian wrote that the "Alemanni are responsible for the suffix "heim" in Alsace. Towns and villages with names bearing this suffix are restricted to the plain". He also explained that the -ingen suffix is a later Allemannic alternative to -heim, which, in time, shortened to -ing or, was frenchified as -ange.

Economy

Molsheim is notable as the home of the

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

factory. Production of the

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti, and manufactured in Molsheim, France by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pi ...

by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. restarted in Dorlisheim near Molsheim in 2005. Molsheim station has rail connections to Strasbourg, Sélestat and Épinal.

References

External links

Town council website
* {{Authority control Communes of Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Subprefectures in France