Sondernach

Sondernach
Coat of arms
Sondernach
Location within Alsace region Sondernach
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Haut-Rhin
Arrondissement	Colmar-Ribeauvillé
Canton	Wintzenheim
Intercommunality	Vallée de Munster
Government
• Mayor (20081–2014)	Jean-Jacques Oberlin
Area1	8.44 km2 (3.26 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	663
• Density	79/km2 (200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	68311 / 68380
Elevation	497–1,324 m (1,631–4,344 ft) (avg. 540 m or 1,770 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.

Sondernach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin département in Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine in north-eastern France.

Geography

Located in the parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges, the village of Sondernach shares with Mittlach the benefit of being situated on the slopes of a large valley watered by one of the streams forming the Fecht river. The altitude of the centre is between 500 and 600 metres.

Its only immediate neighbour is the commune of Metzeral to the north.

Origin of name

The origin of the village's name is unclear. It could be from der Sonne nahe meaning "near the sun", or zum sundern Ach meaning "near the south stream", Sondernach being the furthest south village in the valley.

History

Sondernach first appears in archives in the 12th century. Around 1240, the Benedictine Abbey of Munster owned lands in the village. From 1287, the village was made part of the valley community grouping Munster and the ten communes of the Fecht. It was totally destroyed during the First World War, during the battle of Metzeral, in June 1915.

See also

• Communes of the Haut-Rhin department

References

• INSEE