Auenheim

Auenheim
Blockhouse 1 in Auenheim
Coat of arms
Auenheim
Location within Alsace region Auenheim
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement	Haguenau-Wissembourg
Canton	Bischwiller
Intercommunality	Uffried
Government
• Mayor (2001–2020)	Joseph Ludwig
Area1	4.24 km2 (1.64 sq mi)
Population (2010)2	872
• Density	210/km2 (530/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	67014 / 67480
Elevation	116–121 m (381–397 ft)
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.

Auenheim is a French commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine region of north-eastern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Auenheimois or Auenheimoises.

Geography

Auenheim is located some 15 km east of Haguenau and 13 km north-east of Bischwiller. Access to the commune is by the road D468 from Rœschwoog in the north-east which passes through the north of the commune and the village before continuing to Stattmatten in the south. The D463 branches off the D468 in the north of the commune and goes west to Rountzenheim. The TER Strasbourg-Lauterbourg railway passes through the village and there is a station in the commune which, however, appears to be disused. There is a belt of forest through the centre of the commune (the Biergrund) and a large forest in the south-east of the commune (the Unterwald) with substantial urbanisation in the north-west of the commune with the rest farmland.

The Moder river comes from the south and passes through the south-west then the centre of the commune before forming half of the eastern border and continuing east to join the Rhine at Neuhaeusel. There is also a large reservoir in the north of the commune.

Toponymy

According to the Cassini Map of 1750 Auen- was spelt Augenheim which in modern German would mean "of the eye" + -heim meaning "hamlet or village".

The suffix -heim indicates a Frankish origin since before the first creation of villages by the Alemanni. -heim signified a "hamlet" or a group of houses in French from which came the Alemannic hüs from which comes haus which is "house" in German.

In 1359 the village was called Oweheim and in 1596 it was Awenheim.

Heraldry

Blazon: Argent, a Roman letter M surmounted by a crossette paty and between three crossettes at dexter, sinister and base all in Sable.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name	Party	Position
2001	2020	Joseph Ludwig

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 872 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
3,376	251	355	549	535	506	474	531	539

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
459	443	447	437	440	478	474	448	464

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
451	432	453	440	433	455	500	496	467

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2010	-
543	566	602	598	616	731	-	872	-

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Population of Auenheim

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

• A House at 1 Rue de l'Eglise (17th century)
• A Farmhouse at 2 Rue des Oies (1930)
• The Town Hall and School at Rue principale (1850)
• A Farmhouse at 23 Rue principale (1822)
• A Farmhouse at 24 Rue principale (18th century)
• A House at 45 Rue principale (18th century)
• A Farmhouse at 47 Rue principale (18th century)
• Houses and Farms

One structure is registered as an historical object:

• The War Memorial (20th century)

The Maginot Line

Blockhouse 2

Auenheim Blockhouse North

Auenheim Blockhouse South

Auenheim Blockhouse north

An isolated infantry Blockhouse, simple flank built in 1932. It housed an officer, a non-commissioned officer and 20 enlisted men.

• Floor dimensions: 25x15 metres;
• Height: 7.50 metres;
• Thickness of structural work: 2 metres;
• Exposed concrete slab: 2.25m thick walls;
• Rear walls: 1 m thick.
• Armament: one 37mm Cannon, 3 Reibel machine guns, 5 FM, 2 50 mm mortars, grenade launcher chutes.
• History: From 1939 to 1940 the blockhouse was held by a detachment of the 68th Fortress Infantry Regiment who resisted German pressure until 1 July 1940, 6 days after the Armistice came into effect (25 June 1940).

Auenheim Blockhouse south

An isolated infantry Blockhouse, simple flank built in 1932. It housed an officer, a non-commissioned officer and 20 enlisted men.

• Floor dimensions: 25x15 metres;
• Height: 7.50 metres;
• Thickness of structural work: 2 metres;
• Exposed concrete slab: 2.25m thick walls;
• Rear walls: 1 m thick.
• Armament: one 37mm Cannon, 3 Reibel machine guns, 5 FM, 2 50 mm mortars, grenade launcher chutes.
• History: From 1939 to 1940 the blockhouse was held by a detachment of the 68th Fortress Infantry Regiment who resisted German pressure until 1 July 1940, 6 days after the Armistice came into effect (25 June 1940).

Blockhouse 1

• 1 25mm antitank gun, 1 Hotchkiss machine gun

Blockhouse 2

• 1 25mm antitank gun.

Blockhouse 3

• 1 25mm antitank gun.

Religious heritage

The commune has one religious site that is registered as a historical monument:

• A Cemetery (19th century) The Cemetery contains two items that are registered as historical objects:
  • The Movable Objects in the Cemetery
  • The Tomb of Hélène Kuhry (1918)

Notable people linked to the commune

• Henri Loux, born at Auenheim in 1873 and died at Strasbourg in 1907. An illustrator of the countryside and village scenes on a range of tableware called "Obernai".

See also

• Communes of the Bas-Rhin department

External links

• Auenheim Commune website (French)
• Auenheim on the old IGN website (French)
• Auenheim on Google Maps
• Auenheim on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (French)
• Auenheim on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Auenheim on the INSEE website (French)
• INSEE (French)