Wissembourg
Wissembourg is a small town in northeastern France, near the German border. It sits in the Bas-Rhin department of the Grand Est region, on the Lauter river. The town has about 7,600 residents and is about 60 km north of Strasbourg and 35 km west of Karlsruhe. Trains connect Wissembourg with Strasbourg, Haguenau and Landau in Germany.
The town grew around a Benedictine monastery founded in the 7th century. In the Middle Ages it built walls and fortifications, and the abbey church of Saint-Pierre-et-Paul was built in the 13th century. Wissembourg was part of a group of ten towns called the Décapole from 1354. A major fire in 1677 destroyed many houses, and the town hall was rebuilt in the mid-1700s. Many old timber-framed houses still stand, along with notable buildings like the Maison du Sel (the old hospital) and the Maison de Stanislas, as well as the Grenier aux Dîmes (a tithe barn).
Fortifications and lines were important here. The Lines of Wissembourg, built in 1706, stretched to Lauterbourg; today only traces remain, but parts of the city walls survive. The town was the site of battles in the French Revolutionary Wars (the First Battle of Wissembourg in 1793) and at the start of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Monuments in the area honor soldiers, including the Geisberg monument and the grave of French general Abel Douay.
Today Wissembourg has several historic churches and sites. The abbey area includes the parish church of Saints Pierre et Paul, a prominent landmark. In Altenstadt you can find the Lutheran church of St John and the Romanesque St Ulrich church. The Dominican church has become the La Nef cultural center. In 1975, Altenstadt was merged into Wissembourg. The town is also known for its scenic landscape and for its cultural connections, including the novel L’ami Fritz by Erckmann et Chatrian, which inspired later works.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:45 (CET).