Üsenberg Castle

The Grand Canal of Alsace (French: Grand Canal d'Alsace, pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃ kanal dalzas]; German: Rheinseitenkanal, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nˌzaɪ̯tn̩kaˈnaːl]) is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, and the North Sea for barges of up to about 5000 metric tons. The Grand Canal permits the navigation of more than 30,000 boats a year between Basel and Strasbourg. Construction of the canal began in 1932 and was completed in 1959. The canal diverts much of the water from the original bed of the fast-flowing Rhine in this area, which is almost entirely unnavigable by boats. The Grand Canal produces hydroelectric power at Kembs, Ottmarsheim, Fessenheim and Vogelgrun, supplying electricity to one of the most heavily industrialized regions in France and even to Germany. Furthermore, the canal provides enough water throughout the year to a nuclear power plant at Fessenheim, eliminating the need for water towers.

Breisach (formerly Altbreisach; Low Alemannic: Alt-Brisach) is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the Kaiserstuhl. A bridge leads over the Rhine to Neuf-Brisach, Alsace. Its name is Celtic and means breakwater. The root Breis can also be found in the French word briser meaning to break. The hill on which Breisach came into existence was — at least when there was a flood — in the middle of the Rhine, until the Rhine was straightened by the engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla in the 19th century, thus breaking its surge.

Breisach station (German: Bahnhof Breisach) is a station in Breisach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is now the starting point of the Breisach Railway (Breisacher Bahn) to Freiburg and the Kaiserstuhl Railway (Kaiserstuhlbahn) to Riegel. The Breisach Railway crossed the Upper Rhine, running from Breisach to Colmar in France, until the destruction of the Breisach rail bridge in 1945.

Vogelgrun (French pronunciation: [fogəlgʁyn] ; Alemannic German: Vogelgrien; German: Vogelgrün) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Biesheim (French pronunciation: [bisaim] ; Alsatian: Biese) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Volgelsheim (French pronunciation: [fɔlɡəlsaim] ; Alemannic German: Volgelse) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Algolsheim (French pronunciation: [alɡɔlsaim] ; Alsatian: Àlgelsa) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Neuf-Brisach is a French former canton in the arrondissement of Colmar in the département Haut-Rhin, Alsace. It had 17,149 inhabitants (2012). It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. It consisted of 16 communes, which joined the canton of Ensisheim in 2015.The canton comprised the following communes:

Kunheim (French pronunciation: [kynaim] ; German: Künheim) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Neuf-Brisach (French pronunciation: [nœfbrizak] or [nøbrizak]; German: Neubreisach; Alsatian: Nei-Brisach) is a fortified town and commune of the department of Haut-Rhin in the French region of Alsace. The fortified town was intended to guard the border between France and the Holy Roman Empire and, subsequently, the German states. It was built after the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 that resulted in France losing the town of Breisach, on the opposite bank of the Rhine. The town's name means New Breisach. Today the town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of quintessential military fortifications and its testimony to the influence of Vauban on military architecture during the 17-19th centuries.