Molsheim

Submitted by editor on Tue, 03/30/2010 - 19:13

Molsheim

Molsheim
Eglise des jésuites.jpg
Église des Jésuites
Molsheim is located in France
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Molsheim
Administration
Country France
Region Alsace
Department Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement Molsheim
Canton Molsheim
Intercommunality Communauté de communes de la région de Molsheim-Mutzig
Mayor Laurent Furst (PR)
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 165–371 m (541–1,217 ft)
(avg. 180 m/590 ft)
Land area1 10.85 km2 (4.19 sq mi)
Population2 9,382  (2006)
 - Density 865 /km2 (2,240 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 67300/ 67120
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.

Coordinates: 48°32′37″N 7°29′35″E / 48.54361111°N 7.49305556°E / 48.54361111; 7.49305556

Molsheim (French pronunciation: [mɔlzaim]) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace 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.

Contents

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.

  • Nave and choir of Église des Jésuites

  • Porte des forgerons

  • Cloister of the former Chartreuse (cathusian monastery)

  • Metzig (lateral view)

  • Town hall

  • House of canons

  • Hôtel de la monnaie (old money manufacture)

  • Railway station

History

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.

See also

  • Communes of the Bas-Rhin department

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

  1. ^ Commune : Molsheim (67300) on INSEE
  2. ^ Aire urbaine 1999 : Molsheim (341) on INSEE


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