La Wantzenau

French commune
nomcommune=La Wantzenau
région=Alsace
département=Bas-Rhin
arrondissement=Strasbourg-Campagne
canton=Brumath
insee=67519
cp=67610
maire=Claude Graebling
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Communauté urbaine de Strasbourg
longitude=7.82916666667
latitude=48.6588888889
alt moy=130 m
alt mini=128 m
alt maxi=135 m
hectares=2,539
km²=25.39
sans=5,750
date-sans=2007
dens=215
date-dens=2007

La Wantzenau is a town and commune in eastern France.

Location

The town is located 12km north-east of Strasbourg, in the "département" of Bas-Rhin and the region of Alsace. It is the last village along the Ill river before it joins the Rhine a few kilometres downstream. The village limits touch the border with Germany, although the closest bridge across the Rhine is in Gambsheim, 10km north of the village. It is one of the towns of greater Strasbourg (Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg or CUS). The centre of the town sits on the north side of the river. The neighbourhood of Le Woerthel on the south side of the river, and Le Golf in the fields north of the town were recently developed.

History

The terrain around the village is very flat and marshy. In fact the ending "au" in the name denotes in Alsatian a town which is subject to seasonal flooding. The town was probably founded in the 8th century as a fishing outpost of Honau, a nearby monastery founded by Irish monks on an island in the Rhine river. The name does not appear in any records until 1331 as "Wanzenowe". It was granted status as a parish by the bishop-prince of Strasbourg in 1468. During the Thirty Years' War, in the early 17th century, the town was completely wiped out by Swedish troops. It was also badly damaged during both World Wars. There are many signs of the town's experience with war. La rue Zimmer is named for a soldier who became a local hero fighting with General Leclerc in World War II, only to be killed in fighting near Strasbourg in 1944. The town is dotted with bunkers and blockhouses from the Maginot Line, especially in the La Wantzenau forest. There is also a German-made bunker visible in the house on the corner of the rue Leh and the rue du Moulin.

Today

Today, the town has preserved many 18th century half-timbered Alsatian-style houses. The town has graded a promenade along the Ill river. It is connected to a network of bicycle lanes including the "Piste des Forts" which circles greater Strasbourg, and a path through the La Wantzenau forest through La Robertsau and into downtown Strasbourg. La Wantzenau is well-known in the region for the high number of fine restaurants including Le Relais de la Poste, Les Semailles and Le Moulin de la Wantzenau, the last vestiges of a now closed cooking school in the town. The town is twinned with Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in Haute-Vienne because the population of La Wantzenau was evacuated there at the start of the war with Germany in 1939.

La Wantzenau is a bedroom community of Strasbourg. It combines the advantages of village life with individual houses while still being part of the CUS with train and bus transportation to the centre of Strasbourg. 73% of the working population works outside of the village.

The centre of the town has several commercial establishments including a grocery store, two bakeries and two tobacconists. There are also several public buildings including a post office, the town hall, the Foyer Culturel, the Jean-Claude Klein sports complex, a football stadium, two pre-schools, a primary school, and a junior highschool.

Demographics

(source: Town of La Wantzenau website):Population (1999 census): 5462:Population (1990 census): 4394