Soultz-Haut-Rhin

Soultz-Haut-Rhin
Coat of arms
Soultz-Haut-Rhin
Location within Alsace region  Soultz-Haut-Rhin
Coordinates: 47°53′10″N 7°13′47″E / 47.886°N 7.2297°ECoordinates: 47°53′10″N 7°13′47″E / 47.886°N 7.2297°E
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Haut-Rhin
Arrondissement	Thann-Guebwiller
Canton	Guebwiller
Intercommunality	Région de Guebwiller
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Thomas Birgaentzlé
Area^1	29.56 km^2 (11.41 sq mi)
Population (2009)^2	7,311
• Density	250/km^2 (640/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	68315 / 68360
Elevation	239–1,421 m (784–4,662 ft) (avg. 270 m or 890 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.

Soultz-Haut-Rhin (German: Sulz/Oberelsaß) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin département in Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine in north-eastern France.

Its inhabitants are called Soultziens (male) or Soultziennes (female).

Geography

The town of Soultz-Haut-Rhin has an enclave located northeast of Goldbach-Altenbach.

The town of Soultz was built around a salted water source from which originates its name.

History

The origins of Soultz go back to the 7th century.

667 : the written name of Sulza (salted source) is mentioned in a donation from Adalrich, Duke of Alsace, father of Saint Odile, of the bann of Soultz to the convent of Ebersmunster.

Demography

• 1962 : 4750
• 1968 : 4910
• 1975 : 5689
• 1982 : 5696
• 1990 : 5867
• 1999 : 6640
• 2006 : 7184

Places of interest

Soultz has houses from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

• The Church Saint-Mauritius, l'église Saint-Maurice (1270–1489)
• Château de Buchenek is a 13th-century castle, now a museum
• La Nef des Jouets (The Toys Vessel, museum of toys)

Château de Buchenek (historical museum)

People

• Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès, who married Catherine Gontcharoff, eldest sister of Alexander Pushkin's wife, and killed Pushkin in a duel.
• Auguste-César West (1810–1880), prefect of Haut-Rhin from 1848 to 1850 then prefect of Bas-Rhin until 1855 and of Haute-Garonne until 1859.
• Bernard Genghini, footballer, born in 1958 in Soultz
• Pierre Villon (1901–1980), whose real name was Pierre Ginsburger, was a French political figure who took part in the Resistance.
• Katia Krafft, volcanologist, born in 1942 in Soultz. Wife of the volcanologist Maurice Krafft. Both of them were carried off in 1991 by a pyroclastical flow on the sides of the Mount Unzen (Japan).

See also

• Communes of the Haut-Rhin department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Site officiel de la mairie de Soultz
• Soultz-Haut-Rhin on the Institut géographique national website
• Soultz-Haut-Rhin on the INSEE website
• Soultz-Haut-Rhin sur le site du Quid
• Localisation de Soultz-Haut-Rhin sur une carte de France et communes limitrophes
• Plan de Soultz-Haut-Rhin sur Mapquest