Ensisheim

The western side of the town hall

Coat of arms

Ensisheim

Location within Grand Est region

Ensisheim

Coordinates: 47°51′59″N 7°21′11″E / 47.8664°N 7.3531°ECoordinates: 47°51′59″N 7°21′11″E / 47.8664°N 7.3531°E

Country

Ensisheim

Centre Haut-Rhin

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Michel Habig

Area¹

36.59 km² (14.13 sq mi)

Population (2006)²

7,034

• Density

190/km² (500/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

68082 /68190

Elevation

213–231 m (699–758 ft)
(avg. 217 m or 712 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Ensisheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic origins of the village's name reflects the area's history.

Among the earliest-known clear examples for the practice of trepanation was identified from a Neolithic burial site near the town. Researchers from Freiburg University reported in 1997 an analysis of the well-preserved skeletal remains of an approximately 50-year-old man, whose cranium showed clear evidence of two trepanation procedures. One had fully healed and the other partially so, indicating the subject had survived the operations. The remains were dated to between 5100 and 4900 BC.

On 7 November 1492, a 250-pound meteorite fell there, and since then it has attracted many meteorite enthusiasts. It was described in detail by the contemporary poet Sebastian Brant. The meteorite can still be seen in the town's museum, the Musée de la Régence.

In the remotest times of the Old Neolithic Era, built during the first migration are wares of the Corded Ware culture (the Ribboned Ceramics culture) from Central Europe. With thousand-year old V before B.C., the highly thatched Roofwigs of the large Dannbian Farms of "les Octrois" and Radfeld" were already filling the horizon. The archeological extractions of these Ribboned sites confirm a continuous human occupation from the prehistoric period to Carolingienne agglomeration which developed in the Dannbian Killocks of "les Octrois", however, the origins of Ensisheim still remain rather vague. In 768, the village is mentioned as Enghisehaim.

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Wikipedia