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Ribeauvillé
Ribeauvillé castle
Ribeauvillé and its castle



Ribeauvillé is located in France
Red pog
Ribeauvillé
Coordinates: 48°11′46″N 7°19′09″E / 48.1961, 7.3192Coordinates: 48°11′46″N 7°19′09″E / 48.1961, 7.3192
Country France
Region Grand Est
Department Haut-Rhin
Arrondissement Ribeauvillé
Canton Ribeauvillé
Intercommunality Ribeauvillé et environs
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) Jean-Louis Christ
Area1 32.21 km2 (12.44 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 5,161
 • Density 160/km2 (410/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 68269 / 68150
Elevation 188–989 m (617–3,245 ft)
(avg. 240 m or 790 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ribeauvillé (French pronunciation: [ʁibovije]; Alsatian: Rappschwihr; German: Rappoltsweiler) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.

Its inhabitants are called Ribeauvillois.

The picturesque town is located around 10 miles (16 km) north of Colmar and 75 kilometres (47 mi)south of Strasbourg.

History[]

Known in the 8th century as Rathaldovilare, the town passed from the bishops of Basel to the lords of Rappoltstein, who were among the most famous nobles in Alsace. The lord of Rappoltstein was the king or protector of the wandering minstrels of the land, who purchased his protection by paying him a tax.

When the family became extinct in 1673, this office of "king of the pipers" (Pfeiferkönig) passed to the counts palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. The minstrels had a pilgrimage chapel near Rappoltsweiler, dedicated to their patron saint, Maria von Dusenbach, and here they held an annual feast on 8 September. Ribeauvillé was commonly known as Rappoltsweiler until the 19th century.

Sights[]

Ribeauvillé is in part surrounded by ancient walls, and has many picturesque medieval houses, and two old churches, of St Gregory and St Augustine, both fine Gothic buildings. The town hall contains a valuable collection of antiquities. The Carolabad, a saline spring with a temperature of 64 F., which had a great repute in the Middle Ages, was rediscovered in 1888, and made Rappoltsweiler a watering-place.

Near the town are the ruins of three famous castles, Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre, which formerly belonged to the lords of Ribeaupierre (or Rappoltstein).

Notable people[]

  • Philipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705), Lutheran theologian
  • Johann Baptist Wendling (1723–1797), composer
  • Jean-Michel Beysser (1753–1794), French general
  • Carl August von Steinheil (1801–1870), physicist
  • Maurice Lévy (1838–1910), engineer
  • Jean-François Klobb (1857–1899), French officer
  • Hubert Keller, chef

See also[]

  • Communes of the Haut-Rhin department

References[]

External links[]

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This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Ribeauvillé. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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