Department Bas-Rhin Canton Molsheim Area 10.85 km² Local time Thursday 1:01 AM | Arrondissement Molsheim Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 9,335 (1999) | |
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Weather 7°C, Wind NW at 3 km/h, 80% Humidity Points of interest Jesuit Church - Molsheim, Musée de la Chartreus, Chapelle Notre Dame | ||
Molsheim ([mɔlzaim]) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The total population in 2006 was 9,382. Molsheim had been a very fast-growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,331 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt since. The metropolitan area of Molsheim had 11,760 inhabitants in 2006, from 7,747 in 1968.
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Map of 67120 Molsheim, France
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) Eglise 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 3 hectares (7.4 acres), it used to be a genuine city within the city.
History
Molsheim was part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1648 when it found itself located on the French side of the border. Between 1871 and 1918 and between 1940 and 1944, it was annexed by Germany.
A number of Merovingian tombs, dating from the sixth and seventh centuries were discovered in 1935 to the north of the town, on the Roman road leading from Avolsheim.
Economy
Molsheim is notable as the home of the Bugatti automotive industry factory. Production of the Bugatti Veyron by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. restarted in Dorlisheim near Molsheim in 2005.