Wimmenau

History

Wimmenau is located at the crossroads of an ancient Celtic road from Haguenau to Sarre-Union and an ancient Roman road from Strasbourg to Sarrebruck. It was mentioned for the first time in 836 (as Wimmenawe). In 1365, during the Hundred Years War, a hill near the village was used by English soldiers to monitor the Sparsbach and Moder Valleys and named "Englishberg".

The village was levelled during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), except for the bell-tower of the Church of Saint Andrew, and was resettled by Swiss immigrants from the Bern area in the mid-seventeenth century. Before the war, the town had 30 inhabitants. From 1637-1655, there was not a single bourgeois (middle-class inhabitant) in the town, which had 30 bourgeois before the war. As with most of the Alsace region, Wimmenau came under the rule of France in 1680. The lack of farmland led to the emigration of many of the commune's inhabitants to the United States and Argentina during the nineteenth century. Alsace became part of the German Empire through the Treaty of Frankfurt in 1871, but was returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The town came under German administration again during World War II until it was liberated by American troops on 5-6 December 1944.

The town contains two national heritage sites (monuments historique). The Church of Saint Andrew (Église Saint-André), also known as the Protestant Church (Église protestante), was designated as a monument historique in 1995. Its bell-tower and chancel dates to the 12th century and was equipped with a ribbed vault in the 15th century. The church's nave—main building—was rebuilt after 1681 and expanded in 1878. A house built in 1669 (with additions in 1718) by the Scherer brothers—Swiss immigrants—with an adjacent oil mill dating to 1837 was added in 1984. The Scherer house, oil mill, and a few additional outbuildings form a complex which house historical artifacts related to rural life in the area.

Geography

The commune lies along the Moder River; other waterways in the commune are the Rothbach and Rosteig Streams. It is entirely within the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park. It lies between 197 and 413 m elevation; the average elevation is 205 m.

Climate

Wimmenau experiences an average of 1635 hours of sunshine a year (the average for France is 1900 hours).

Demographics

Inhabitants are known as Wimmenauviens (males) or Wimmenauviennes (females). The hamlet of Kohlhuette is divided between the communes of Wimmenau and Wingen-sur-Moder. The commune of Wimmenau's population was evenly spread in the 2010 census; there were 566 males (49.91% of the population) and 568 females (50.09% of the population). Between 1999-2010, the birth rate was 9.7% and the mortality rate was 7.4%. According to the 2010 census, of people over 15, 27.9% were single (never married), 59.6% were married, 7.6% were widowed, and 4.9% were divorced.

Transport

Wimmenau lies along route D919—named Route Principale (Main Road) while passing through the town—connects the town of Wimmenau with Wingen-sur-Moder to the northwest and Ingwiller to the southeast. Route D12 connects the town of Wimmenau with the hamlet of Kohlhuette. Route D157 connects the town of Wimmenau with Reipertswiller.

The town of Wimmenau lies along the Mommenheim-Sarreguemines rail line, which connects the cities of Strasbourg, France to Sarrebruck, Germany. The rail line was built during German rule by the General Division of the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine; the section through Wimmenau opened 1 May 1895. TER Alsace, a Train Express Régional operated by SNCF, operates on this line. Although there is a railroad station in Wimmenau, there is no rail service; TER Alsace serves Wimmenau with bus service connecting to rail service at Wingen-sur-Moder and Ingwiller.

Notable residents

Politician Philippe Richert grew up in Wimmenau. He has served as senator for Bas-Rhin (1992–2010) and is the current president of the Alsace Regional Council (2010–present).