History of Alsace

Alsace (, US also ; French: [alzas] ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,919,745. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of German and French influences.Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of the region Grand Est. Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect closely related to Swabian, although since World War II most Alsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II, the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city, is Strasbourg, which sits on the present German international border. The city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies.

Bischoffsheim (French pronunciation: [biʃofsaim] ; German: Bischofsheim im Elsass; Alsatian: Bìsche) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France.

Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and numerous race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car. The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow to the marque, and the death of his son Jean in 1939 meant that there was no successor to lead the factory with no more than about 8,000 cars made. The company struggled financially, and it released one last model in the 1950s before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in 1963. In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it as Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. (French pronunciation: [bygati]) is a French luxury sports car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is based in Molsheim, Alsace, France. The original Bugatti automobile brand was established by Ettore Bugatti (1881–1947) in 1909 at Molsheim and built sports, racing and luxury cars. In November 2021, the company became part of Bugatti Rimac, a joint venture between Rimac Group and Porsche AG. Since November 1, 2021, the company has been led by Mate Rimac as chief executive officer of Bugatti Rimac.

Dorlisheim (French pronunciation: [dɔʁlisaim] ; Alsatian: Dorelse) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Rosheim (French pronunciation: [ʁo.sajm] ; Alsatian: Rose) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.It lies 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Strasbourg, on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. It is a winemaking town on the tourist "Road of the Wines of Alsace" and the Route Romane d'Alsace ("Romanesque route of Alsace").

Griesheim-près-Molsheim (French pronunciation: [ɡʁisaim pʁɛ mɔlsaim] , literally Griesheim near Molsheim; German: Griesheim bei Molsheim) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.It is one of nine member communes of the Communauté de communes des Portes de Rosheim.

Église Saint-Étienne de Rosheim is a church in Rosheim, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. Originally built in the 13th century, it was last built in 1788. It became a registered Monument historique in 1990.

Gare de Molsheim is a French railway station located on the Strasbourg—Saint-Dié and Sélestat–Saverne railways. It is located within the commune of Molsheim, in the Bas-Rhin department, in northeastern France. It is put in operation by the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (Eastern Railways Company). It is a travellers station of the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF). Belonging to the TER Grand Est network, it is only served by regional express trains.

Altorf (French pronunciation: [altɔʁf] ; German: Altdorf; Alsatian: Àldorf) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.

The former Jesuit Church (Église des Jésuites) is the parish church Sainte-Trinité-et-Saint-Georges (Alsatian: Sànkt-Georg- und Dreifàltigkeitskirich) which is the main Roman Catholic sanctuary of Molsheim, France, and the principal 17th-century church building in the Rhine Valley. The church was built between 1615 and 1617 by the German architect Christoph Wamser, and consecrated on 26 August 1618. Molsheim's Jesuit church is considered one of the foremost examples of Gothic Survival architecture or, as it is called in German, de:Nachgotik (posterior Gothic). It is listed as a Monument historique since 1939 by the French Ministry of Culture.Molsheim's Jesuit College was founded in 1580 and dissolved in 1765. It served as Alsace's main university between 1618 and 1704, preceding the Lutheran Strasbourg University in importance. The church's construction was funded by the bishop of Strasbourg, Archduke Leopold V of Austria, who made a donation on his name saint's day, 15 November 1614. Although a chapel inside is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the church was dedicated from the start to the Holy Trinity (Heilige Dreifaltigkeit). It became the parish church of Molsheim and was dedicated to Saint-George in 1791, after the demolition of the city's former parish church, the previous Église Saint-Georges, on what is now the town's current market square (Place du marché).The church's dimensions are considerable, especially in relation to the small size of the town: The interior is 70 m (230 ft) long, and the nave is 25 m (82 ft) wide and 20 m (66 ft) high. The choir measuring 19.5 m (64 ft) by 11 m (36 ft), the spire 45 m (148 ft) high. The total length of the church, steeple and sacristy included, is 82.5 m (271 ft)Among the many features inside the richly ornate building, the Baroque Saint Ignatius' Chapel (1621–1630) in the north transept and the Rococo Our Lady's Chapel (1748) in the south transept stand out as the most visually striking. Another pride of the church are the 1781 pipe organ by Johann Andreas Silbermann and the monumental Late Gothic cross (1480), 4.5 m (15 ft) high and 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide, from the former Carthusian monastery of the town.

The canton of Molsheim is an administrative division of the Bas-Rhin department, northeastern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Molsheim.It consists of the following communes: