Mulhouse is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and
German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206
inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the
Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after
Strasbourg. Mulhouse is the principal commune of the 32 making up the
Communauté d'agglomération Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération.
Mulhouse is famous for its museums, especially the Cité de l’Automobile and
the Musée Français du Chemin de Fer, respectively the largest automobile and
railway museums in Europe. An industrial town nicknamed "the French Manchester",
Mulhouse is also the main seat of the Upper Alsace University, where the
secretariat of the European Physical Society can be found.
Administration Mulhouse is the chief city of an
arrondissement of the Haut-Rhin département, of which it is a
sub-prefecture. History
Legends mention the origin of the town in 58 BC, but the first written records
of Mulhouse date from the twelfth century. It was part of the southern
Alsatian county of Sundgau in the Holy Roman Empire. From 1354–1515 Mulhouse
was part of the Décapole, an association of ten Free Imperial Cities in Alsace.
The city joined the Swiss Confederation as an associate in 1515 and was
therefore not annexed by France in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 like the
rest of the Sundgau. An enclave in Alsace, it was a free and independent
Calvinist republic, known as Stadtrepublik Mülhausen, associated with
the Swiss Confederation until, after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798,
it became a part of France in the Treaty of Mulhouse signed on 28 January 1798,
during the Directory period of the French Revolution.
Starting in the middle of the eighteenth century, the Koechlin family pioneered
cotton cloth manufacturing; Mulhouse became one of France’s leading textile
centers in the nineteenth century. André Koechlin built machinery and started
making railroad equipment in 1842. The firm in 1839 already employed 1,800
people. It was one of the six large French locomotive constructors until the
merger with Elsässische Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden
in 1872, when the company became Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques.
After the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War Mulhouse was annexed
to the German Empire as part of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The city
was briefly occupied by French troops on 8 August 1914 at the start of World War
I, but they were forced to withdraw two days later in the Battle of Mulhouse.
The citizens of Alsace who unwisely celebrated the appearance of the French
army, were left to face German reprisals. Alsace-Lorraine was invaded
and annexed by France after World War I. Although never formally restored to
Germany after the Battle of France in 1940, it was occupied by German forces
until returned to French control at the end of the war in May 1945.
The town's development was stimulated first by the expansion of the textile
industry and tanning, and subsequently by chemical and engineering industries
from the mid 18th century. Mulhouse was for a long time called the French
Manchester. In consequence, the town has enduring links with Louisiana, from
which it imported cotton, and also with the Levant. The town's history also
explains why its centre is relatively small.
Geography Two rivers run through Mulhouse, the
Doller and the Ill, both tributaries of the Rhine. Mulhouse is approximately 100
kilometres away from Strasbourg and Zürich; it is 350 km away from Milan and
about 340 km from Frankfurt. It shares an international airport with Basel,
Switzerland and Freiburg, Germany, which is called EuroAirPort.
Districts Medieval Mulhouse consists essentially
of a lower and an upper town. The lower town was formerly the inner
city district of merchants and craftsmen. It developed around the Place
de la Réunion. Nowadays this area is pedestrianised.
The upper town developed from the eighteenth century on. Previously,
several monastic orders were established there, notably the Franciscans,
Augustinians, Poor Clares and Knights of Malta.
The Nouveau Quartier is the best example of urban planning in Mulhouse, and was
developed from 1826 on, after the town walls had been torn down. It is focused
around the Place de la République. Its network of streets and its triangular
shape are a good demonstration of the town's desire for a planned layout. The
planning was undertaken by the architects G. Stolz and Félix Fries.
This inner city district was occupied by rich families and the owners of local
industries, who tended to be liberal and republican in their opinions.
The Rebberg district consists of grand houses inspired by the colonnaded
residences of Louisiana cotton planters. Originally, this was the town's
vineyard. The houses here were built as terraces in the English style, a result
of the town's close relationship with Manchester, where the sons of
industrialists were often sent to study. Principal places of interest
Hôtel de Ville. The town hall was built in 1553 in the Rhenish Renaissance
style. Montaigne described it as a "palais magnifique et tout doré" in
1580. It is known for its trompe l'œil paintings, and its pictures of
allegories representing the vices and virtues.
Workers' quarter, inspired workers' quarters in many other industrial towns.
Place de la Bourse and the building of the Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, in
the Nouveau Quartier Cité de l’Automobile
French National Railway Museum Museum of Electricity
Museum of Printed Textiles The Parc Zoologique et Botanique de
Mulhouse Saint-Steffen Calvinist temple, by
Jean-Baptiste Schacre Principal economic activities
As early as the mid-19th century, Mulhouse was known as "the industrial
capital of Alsace", the "city with a hundred chimneys" and "the French
Manchester" Automobile industry
Chemical industry Electronics
Engineering Transport
= Air= Mulhouse is served by EuroAirport
Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, located 25 km south of the town.
= Rail= Gare de Mulhouse is well connected with
the rest of France by train, major destinations such as Paris, Dijon,
Besançon, Belfort, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier and Lille being
directly possible by train. There are also some trains which operate into
Switzerland, such as Basel, Bern and Zürich. There is also a train service to
Frankfurt am Main in Germany. A Eurocity service connects Brussels, Luxembourg,
Strasbourg and Basel; this service calls at Mulhouse.
Regional services connect Mulhouse to Colmar, Strasbourg, Basel, Belfort,
Kruth and Freiburg im Breisgau. = Urban transport=
Transport within Mulhouse is provided by Soléa and comprises a network of buses
together with the city's tram network, which opened on 13 May 2006. The tramway
now consists of three tram lines and one tram-train line.
Line 1 from Nouveau Bassin to Coteaux Line 2 from Gare Central to Châtaignier
Line 3 from Gare Central to Lutterbach Tram-train line from Gare Centrale to
Thann via Lutterbach = Road=
Motorway A36 is the main axis connecting the city with the west of the country,
to cities such as Dijon, Paris and Lyon. The A35 is the main north-south axis,
connecting cities such as Strasbourg and Basel.
Miscellaneous = Notable people=
Mulhouse was the birthplace of: Jean de Beaugrand, lineographer and
mathematician Jean Brenner, painter
Karl Brandt, personal physician to Adolf Hitler and head administrator of the T-4
Euthanasia Program Pierre Chambon, biologist
Mireille Delunsch, soprano Tom Dillmann, racing driver
Artur Dinter, writer and Nazi politician.
Adrien Dollfus, French zoologist and carcinologist
Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer best known for being the focus of the
Dreyfus affair Huguette Dreyfus harpsichordist
François Florent, actor, founder of the Cours Florent
Georges Friedel, mineralogist, son of Charles Friedel
Charles Frédéric Girard, biologist specializing on ichthyology and
herpetology Katia and Maurice Krafft, volcanologists
Johann Heinrich Lambert, mathematician, physicist and astronomer
Friedrich Janz, diplomat Joffrey Lauvergne, basketball player
Friedrich Wilhelm Levi, mathematician François Loeser, mathematician
Paul Meyer, clarinetist Véronique North-Minca, diplomat
Thierry Omeyer, handball goalkeeper Marc Pfertzel, football player
Pierre Probst, comic and children book artist
Napoléon Henri Reber, composer Daniel Roth, organist, composer and
pedagogue Franz Eugen Schlachter, revivalist
preacher, classical scholar and translator of the Schlachter Bible.
Christiane Scrivener, EU-Commissioner Daniel Schlumberger, archaeologist and
professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Strasbourg and later
the Princeton University. Jean Schlumberger Jewelry designer at
Tiffany & Co René Schützenberger, painter
Frank Ténot, press agent, pataphysician and jazz critic
Vitaa, singer Pierre Weiss, physicist
Alfred Werner, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1913
Robert Wyler, film producer William Wyler, award-winning motion
picture director Jean-Marc Savelli, a virtuoso concert
pianist Antar Yahia, football player
Georges Zipélius, illustrator Other notable residents
Adolphe Braun, photographer Alfred de Glehn, designer of steam
locomotives Armando Thiriet Koenig, Industrial
Engineer, Director of AEG Madrid in 1919, established an AEG subsidiary in
Seville in the early 1920s = Mayors of Mulhouse=
Jean Rottner Jean-Marie Bockel
Joseph Klifa Emile Muller
International relations = Twin towns – sister cities=
Mulhouse is twinned with: References
External links Official website
Official website of the Tourist Office of Mulhouse and its region – in English
Official website of the Convention Bureau of Mulhouse and its region – in
English The Mulhousian Ferret: High Resolution
Video Guide of Mulhouse MulhouseBienvenue.com City Guide Town of
Mulhouse Museum of Printed Textiles
TramTrain website