Schorbach () is a commune in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

department of the

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 It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

administrative region 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 ...

. The village belongs to the

Pays de Bitche The Pays de Bitche (, literally ''Land of Bitche'', or ) is a natural region in the Moselle (departement), Moselle Departments of France, department of the Grand Est region of France. It corresponds to the present French part of the former princ ...

. 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's day.

Geography

Schorbach is a few kilometres South of the border with the Palatinate (Germany), North-east of Bitche. 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 it remained the central church for the surrounding villages. At the start of

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 ...

, the inhabitants were evacuated to the Département of

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

. Schorbach was liberated by American troops on 16 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)