Birth of the town

An 18th-century relief on a house in the old town. It recalls the origins of Sélestat: the three mermaids symbolise the Ill river and its tributaries Lièpvrette and Giessen, the tree and reed stand for the Illwald forest and marshes, and the boat evokes the wine trade.

Sélestat was first mentioned in 727 AD but the town probably has an earlier Celtic or Roman origin.^{[C 1]} Archaeological findings provide evidence of human settlement during the Mesolithic, the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. A large number of wood piles dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD were discovered around St. Quirin chapel, suggesting a Roman settlement. At that time Sélestat might have already been a port on the river Ill.^{[B 1]}

When Sélestat started to appear in written documents in the 8th century, it may have been a market town or simply a village populated by fishermen and farmers. The area was part of the estate of Eberhard, a member of the Alsatian ducal family, who donated it to Murbach Abbey at the end of his life.^{[C 1]} In 775, Charlemagne spent Christmas in Sélestat, which indicates that the town must have had enough appropriate buildings and population to accommodate his court and troops.^{[C 1]}

In the 1080s, Sélestat was the property of Hildegard von Eguisheim, mother of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, the first member of the House of Hohenstaufen. Hildegard transformed the place into a religious centre when she founded St. Faith's Church, which she gave to the Benedictines of Conques Abbey. Monks from Conques opened a priory next to the church in 1092.^{[C 1]} The House of Hohenstaufen quickly became the leading dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, which came to the imperial throne in 1152. Being under their protection, the priory of Sélestat strongly influenced local life. Even though Sélestat constituted a distinct parish, its priest had only limited power and the Benedictine prior was the true head of the municipality. At the end of the 12th century, the Hohenstaufen dynasty gradually lost power and as a result the priory started to decline.^{[C 1]} The citizens used this opportunity to reduce the prior's dominance^{[C 2]} and secure the power of their parish. They started to build a new parish church in the 1220s. St. George's Church was designed in Gothic style and was significantly larger than St. Faith's Church, another way to signify the end of Benedictine hegemony.^[8]

Free imperial city

Engraving from Wapen des Heyligen Römischen Reichs Teutscher Nation (1545) with the coat of arms of Sélestat (at that time an eagle instead of a lion).

Frederick II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in the 13th century, realised that his dynasty was losing its power and granted freedoms to many cities to keep their allegiance. These cities became Free imperial cities and Sélestat became one of them in 1217. Under the new status Sélestat was able to build city walls and collect taxes on its own. Its serfs and settlers were freed.^{[C 2]} The German monarch Adolf of Nassau granted Sélestat a constitution in 1292. It was amended many times but it regulated local politics until 1789.^{[C 2]} Although the new status favoured trade and prosperity, free cities in Alsace were afraid that they would not be defended by imperial forces if a conflict was to occur. So they decided to form an alliance called the Decapolis in 1354, which comprised ten cities: (Haguenau, Colmar, Wissembourg, Turckheim, Obernai, Kaysersberg, Rosheim, Munster, Sélestat and Mulhouse). The seat of the alliance was in Haguenau but its archives were kept in Sélestat. Because the town was the most centrally located, it often hosted meetings of the association.^{[C 3]}

The Benedictine priory was closed in 1424 after many years of decline. It had long lost its power to the local nobility that were gradually replaced by the bourgeoisie in the mid-14th century.^{[C 2]} Nevertheless, Sélestat remained a religious centre even after the closing of the priory. Convents were established in the 13th century by Dominicans, Knights Hospitaller and Franciscans. Several abbeys located outside of the town also had a residence in town.^{[C 2]} At the beginning of the 16th century, Sélestat was a noted centre of Renaissance humanism thanks to its celebrated Latin school. Reformers Beatus Rhenanus and Martin Bucer were among the school's alumni.^{[C 3]} This school helped spread Protestant ideas among the population, although the local authorities remained faithful to Rome.^{[C 3]} Erasmus of Rotterdam visited Sélestat four times between 1515 and 1522.^{[D 1]}

Being a free city, Sélestat attracted settlers from the region who sought protection, freedom and a thriving economic environment. The first city wall, which had become too constricting, was replaced in 1280, and a third wall had to be erected in the 16th century as the city grew.^{[C 2]} At the end of the Middle Ages, the population was estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000.^{[C 2]} It was then the fourth largest Alsatian town after Strasbourg (18,000), Colmar and Haguenau (6,000 each).^{[D 2]} The local economy reached its zenith around 1500.^{[D 3]} It was centered on shipping and trade (mainly hay, cereals, wine, fish, glass, iron and salt). As the road network was poor and dangerous, goods transited via the Ill river.^{[C 2]}

Decline

"Are illustrious times gone?", early 17th-century engraving symbolising Sélestat with broken Tables of the Law and columns in the foreground.

The decline of the town started in the 1520s, when the humanist school lost its former influence. The troubles surrounding the Protestant Reformation brought instability and unrest to the region. The town experienced the German Peasants' War in 1525 and its convents were sacked by a mob in 1534.^{[C 4]} During the same period Sélestat lost its pre-eminence in the Decapolis because the city of Mulhouse left the alliance in 1515 and was replaced by Landau in 1521, moving the geographical centre of the alliance to the north.^{[D 4]}

During the 17th century, Alsace was one of the main battlefields of the Thirty Years War. Sélestat was seized by the Swedes in 1632 after a month-long siege. They surrendered the town to their French allies two years later. The local population long remained predominantly faithful to the House of Habsburg.^{[C 4]} The Peace of Westphalia (1648) formalised the annexation of the Decapolis by France.^{[C 5]} Sélestat was briefly occupied by the Germans during the Franco-Dutch War in 1674.^{[D 5]} The Treaties of Nijmegen (1679) that ended the war also abolished the Decapolis.^{[C 5]}

At first, Sélestat was a major strategic stronghold for the French. Located near the Rhine, it controlled the access to the Vosges mountains and the rest of France. Vauban, the foremost military architect at that time, rebuilt the town walls between 1675 and 1691. However, after the conquest of Strasbourg in 1681 Sélestat lost much of its strategic importance, as Strasbourg was better located. But it remained a garrison town, and the troops stationed there helped to improve the faltering local economy.^{[C 5]} Although Protestantism was not forbidden in Alsace, French authorities largely encouraged Catholicism and opened three new convents in Sélestat.^{[D 6]} Jews were expelled from the town in 1642.^[9] During the French Revolution the population was extremely conservative and opposed to change.^{[C 6]} The new territorial organisation confirmed the decline of the town, which did not become a prefecture and was not distinguished as a subprefecture until 1806, when it replaced Barr in that capacity.^{[D 7]} Sélestat suffered from the Napoleonic wars as it was besieged and bombed by the Bavarians in 1814 and blockaded by a German coalition in 1815.^{[B 2]}

Since 1815

The train station in 1842, soon after its opening.

Industry appeared very early in Sélestat. The town had already several factories at the beginning of the 19th century: a tilery, a sawmill, 12 tanneries and 11 mills. Sélestat quickly became specialised in wire gauze making^{[C 6]} but it never became a large industrial centre, remaining a small town with limited influence.^{[D 8]} The completion of the Strasbourg-Basel railway (1840), one of the first to be built in France, did not lead to significant urban development.^{[C 6]} The town walls that still encircled the town were a significant factor in its economic and demographic stagnation.^{[C 6]} After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Alsace and a part of Lorraine were annexed by the new German Empire. The German authorities demolished the city walls in 1874 and built new spacious neighbourhoods around the old town, as they did in Strasbourg and Metz.^{[C 7]}

Sélestat became French again after the First World War, during which almost a thousand inhabitants died. It was part of the Third Reich during the Second World War. Its liberation took three months and ended in February 1945. The town is a recipient of the War Cross 1914–1918 and War Cross 1939–1945.^{[B 3][C 7]} Sélestat has experienced steady demographic and economic growth since 1945. Its population almost doubled between 1946 and 1999 and two industrial parks were built to accommodate new large factories. The service industry has enriched the town's economy since the 1970s with a large number of small businesses.^{[B 4]}

South of the town, at 48°15′4″N 7°25′28″E / 48.25111°N 7.42444°E / 48.25111; 7.42444, a large broadcasting facility was used for transmitting on 1161 kHz and 1278 kHz in the medium-wave range.^[10] It was opened in 1948^[11] and ceased to emit on 1 January 2016.^[12]

Museums

The Humanist Library of Sélestat.

The Humanist Library displays one of the oldest and most homogeneous collections of medieval manuscripts and Renaissance books in Europe. Its core is the still almost intact library of Beatus Rhenanus, which was bequeathed to the city and has been maintained by it ever since. The institution also holds the books that belonged to the Latin school of Sélestat, at which Rhenanus and many other reformers were educated around 1500. In 2011, the library has been inscribed in the Unesco's Memory of the World Register.^[39]

The library is open to both researchers and tourists, with an exhibition displaying some of its most noteworthy items: an 8th-century lectionary, the first books printed in Alsace, a copy of the Cosmographiae Introductio where the oldest mention of America can be found, and a 1521 document which contains the oldest record of a Christmas tree.^[40]

Sélestat also has a museum dedicated to bread and baking^[41] and it is the seat of the FRAC d'Alsace, a regional institution whose aim is to collect contemporary works of art (see below, Cultural institutions and events). These works are regularly part of temporary exhibits in Sélestat and other places in Alsace. FRAC possesses works by Aurélie Nemours, Olivier Debré, Mario Merz and Panamarenko, among other artists.^[42]

Religious architecture

St Faith's Church.

Sélestat has two large and remarkable churches from the Middle Ages. St. Faith's Church is the oldest and a prime example of Romanesque architecture. Its design is related to similar buildings both in the Rhine region and in Lorraine. It was built during the second half of the 12th century to replace an earlier building.^{[C 12]} The church was renovated in the 19th century and a medieval death mask was found during this work. It is often attributed to Hildegard of Eguisheim, founder of the church, and is now displayed in a crypt.^{[B 5]}

St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. It is often referred to as "the cathedral" because of its size, but it has never been the seat of a diocese. Its construction started soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic, save for a Romanesque side portal. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. It is illuminated by 288 stained glass panels, of which 55 date from the 15th century.^{[B 6]}

Most of the convents of the town have disappeared; the Dominican convent is the only one to have retained much of its original appearance. It was built in the 13th century and still has its church and cloister.^{[B 7][C 13]} The Franciscan convent was completely destroyed, apart from the choir of its church, which now serves as a Protestant church.^{[B 8]} Sélestat also has an old granary that belonged to the Benedictine priory,^{[B 7]} and a 16th-century commandery built by the Knights Hospitaller.^{[B 9]}

The synagogue was built in 1890. Its architecture is typical of the region, with a square shape and discreet neo-romanesque ornaments. Its cupola was destroyed in 1940 by the Nazis and never rebuilt.^{[B 8]} The Jewish cemetery, located outside the old town, was opened in 1622. It has several 18th century gravestones showing a Christian artistic influence.^{[B 10]}

• 
  The death mask in St. Faith's.
• 
  St. George's Church.
• 
  Stained-glass windows in St. George's.
• 
  The Protestant church.
• 
  The synagogue.

Civil and military architecture

Rue des Chevaliers.

The old town comprises a large number of medieval and Renaissance buildings. The quai des Tanneurs ("tanners' quay") is one of the most picturesque streets in Alsace. A stream used to flow in the middle of the street until the beginning of the 20th century, the relic of a former noxious-smelling trade, since tanning required large amounts of flowing water for treating and washing animal skins. Most of the old tanner houses date back to the Middle Ages and have a tall attic to provide a ventilated space for drying leather.^{[B 11]} In the neighbouring streets, rue des Oies ("geese street") and rue des Veaux ("calf street"), many houses were covered with a coat of plaster in the 19th century to hide the timbering, which was considered too rustic.^{[B 12]}

Several hôtels particuliers (large townhouses) date from the Renaissance. Most of them have oriel windows that are characteristic of German Renaissance architecture. The grandest of these hôtels belonged to the Ebersmunster abbey and it has a large three-story granary. The Ziegler house has a beautiful oriel that shows the interest of the elite of that time in Antiquity. The oriel partly reflects Vitruvius's architectural legacy and displays the portraits of four key figures of Antiquity. Baroque architecture is visible on some later hôtels dating from the 17th and 18th century. French classical architecture and its main feature, the mansard roof, were largely employed in the 18th century. To reduce costs, buildings were still built with timber framing, but as this technique was considered too Germanic and rustic, they were often covered with a rendering imitating stone.^{[B 13]}

Quai des Tanneurs.

The German period (1871–1918) left some examples of Wilhelminism in the city's architecture. This prestige-oriented style is a mixture of various earlier styles, including Romanesque, Gothic and neoclassical. Noteworthy are the post office (1884),^{[B 14]} the courthouse (1900),^{[B 15]} the lycée Koeberlé (1913)^{[B 16]} and the water tower (1906). The latter (height: 50 m (160 ft)) was largely inspired by the water tower in Deventer, Netherlands.^[43]

The medieval city walls, built in several stages between the 13th and the 16th century, were torn down after the French annexation in the 17th century. However, four towers escaped destruction. The Tour des Sorcières ("witches' tower"), which served as a gate and a jail, is the tallest.^{[B 17]} The Tour de l'Horloge ("clock tower") was also originally part of a gate. The clock and the elaborate roof were added in 1614.^{[B 18]} Two much smaller towers can also be seen, one near the Ill river and another integrated into a later house.^{[B 18]} All these remains date from the 13th century.^{[B 19]}

New walls were built by Tarade and Vauban in the 17th century. They were in their turn destroyed in 1874. Only small portions survive: two bastions and the Porte de Strasbourg ("Strasbourg gate"), a good example of French architecture under Louis XIV.^{[B 19][B 20]} Sélestat still has two old arsenals, Sainte-Barbe on the main square (1470) and Saint-Hilaire (1518).^{[B 12]} The first, with a large crenelated gable, is a fine example of Gothic architecture.^{[B 8]}

• 
  Rue Koeberlé.
• 
  Hôtel d'Ebersmunster.
• 
  One of the many squares.
• 
  The water tower.
• 
  Tour des Sorcières.
• 
  Arsenal Ste Barbe.

Municipal archive

The municipal archive (archives municipales) of Sélestat owns and exhibits numerous ancient documents, among which royal charters dating back to the 13th century and, most famously, the register dated from 1521 containing the first written mention of the Christmas tree.^[44]

Illwald forest

A stork under way in the Illwald.

The Illwald forest was designated a regional nature reserve in 2013.^[45][46] It covers 1,855 hectares (4,584 acres), almost half of the territory of Sélestat, and is one of the largest riparian forests in France. It lies on the Ill, which forms a complex hydrographic network there. The site is subject to flooding and it is characteristic of the Grand Ried, a flat region located between the Ill and the Rhine that serves as a natural spillway for the two rivers.^{[E 5]}

Common trees are oaks, willows and alders, which tolerate wet soils. Because the phreatic table is very close to the surface, soils hardly freeze in winter and drought rarely occurs in summer.^{[A 3]} The nature reserve also has meadows and reed beds. Common animals include a large variety of birds (storks, curlews, harriers), amphibians and mammals (beavers). The reserve is home to the largest fallow deer population in France. This animal was introduced to the area in 1854.^[47]

The Illwald contains three chapels that were originally pilgrimage destinations. The Schnellenbuhl chapel was built by Jesuits in 1683; Our Lady of the Oaks dates back to the 15th century but it was rebuilt after a fire in 1920; Our Lady of Peace was built in 1960, and St. Anthony was founded in 1280 but rebuilt in 1930.^{[B 21]}

Other cultural institutions and events

The "corso fleuri".

Sélestat is the seat of the Agence culturelle d'Alsace ("cultural agency of Alsace", ACA) since 1976.^[48] Since 1982, Sélestat is the seat of the FRAC Alsace, the Alsace branch of the Fonds régional d'art contemporain ("Regional Contemporary art fund"), administered by the ACA.^[49] A biennale dedicated to contemporary art takes place every two-year in autumn since 1984. It has welcomed artists like Daniel Buren, Ben Vautier, Sarkis Zabunyan and Agnès Varda.^{[E 6]} Since 2006, Sélestat is the seat of Archéologie Alsace (formerly known as the Pôle interdépartemental d'archéologie rhénan, the "Rhenish inter-départemental center for archaeology"), which conducts and documents archaeological field surveys and excavations in Alsace.^[50]

Every year since 1927, Sélestat has organised a large flower procession through its old town. The "corso fleuri" is one of the biggest floral shows in eastern France. New floats are made each year around a theme and decorated with dahlias only.^{[E 7]} A carnaval procession is also held in March. It is the remnant of a very old tradition started by the town's butchers.^{[B 22]} Sélestat also has festivals dedicated to electronic music (Epidemic Experience), satirical cartoons (Sélest'ival), a spring fun fair, and a summer medieval reenactment with a market and a procession.^{[E 8]}

The cultural complex Les Tanzmatten, built by Rudy Ricciotti, was inaugurated in 2000. It serves as the town's concert and performances hall, as well as for exhibitions, commercial fairs and weddings.^[51]

Born in Sélestat

• Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer
• Fabienne Keller, French politician
• Jacques Paul Klein, French-American Diplomat and General
• Eugène Koeberlé, French surgeon
• Heinrich Kramer, German inquisitor
• Johannes Mentelin, German printer
• Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist
• Charles Sitzenstuhl, French politician
• Joseph Wackenthaler, French organist and composer
• Nicolas-Joseph Wackenthaler, French organist and composer
• Jakob Wimpfeling, German humanist

Connected to Sélestat

• Ludwig Dringenberg (died in Sélestat)
• Frédéric Fiebig, painter (lived and died in Sélestat)
• Thierry Omeyer (played professionally for Sélestat)
• François Ignace Schaal (died in Sélestat)

Citations

Works cited

• Dorlan, Alexandre (2002). Histoire architecturale et anecdotique de Sélestat (Schlestadt) : les transformations d'une place forte alsacienne des origines à nos jours. Vol. 1. Le Livre d'histoire. ISBN 2-84373-270-0.
• Almira, Jacques; Billoin, David; Ehret, Daniel; et al. (2000). Sélestat. La Nuée bleue. ISBN 2-7165-0526-8.
• Encyclopédie de l'Alsace. Vol. 11. Publitotal. 1985.
• Vogler, Bernard (2009). La Décapole. La Nuée bleue. ISBN 978-2-7165-0728-8.
• "City of Sélestat".