Haguenau

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Coordinates: 48°49′02″N 7°47′19″E / 48.81722222, 7.78861111

Administration
Commune of Haguenau
Location

Country	France
Region	Alsace
Department	Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement	Haguenau
Canton	Haguenau (chief town)
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de la région de Haguenau
Mayor	Pierre Strasser (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	115 m–203 m (avg. 150 m)
Land area^¹	182.59 km²
Population^² (1999)	32,242
- Density	176/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	67180/ 67500
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Haguenau (French: Haguenau, pronounced [agəno]; Alsatian: Hàwenau, pronounced [ˈhaːvənaʊ]; German: Hagenau) is a commune located in northeastern France, in the Bas-Rhin département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. It is the fourth most populous town in Alsace: within the Bas-Rhin département, its population of just over 32,000 makes Haguenau second in size only to Strasbourg, some 30 km to the south. To the north of the town, the "Forêt de Haguenau" is the largest undivided forest in the country.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Notable residents
4 Sister cities
5 Monuments
6 External links

[edit] History

Haguenau dates from the beginning of the 12th century, and owes its origin to the erection, by the dukes of Swabia, of a hunting lodge on an island in the Moder River. Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa fortified it and gave it town rights in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge he founded an imperial palace, in which were preserved the "Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire", i.e. the jewelled imperial crown, scepter, imperial globe, and sword of Charlemagne.

Subsequently Haguenau became the seat of the Landvogt of Hagenau, the imperial advocatus in Lower Alsace. Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans, made it an imperial city in 1257. In the 14th century, it housed the executive council of the Decapole, a defensive and offensive association of ten Alsatian towns against the surrounding political instability. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was ceded to France, and in 1673 King Louis XIV had the fortifications razed. Haguenau was captured by imperial troops in 1675, but it was taken by the French two years later, nearly being destroyed by fire in the process.

In 1871 Haguenau was annexed by the German Empire, per its victory in the Franco-Prussian War, and made part of Alsace-Lorraine as Hagenau. It was part of the independent Republic of Alsace Lorraine after World War I, but it was annexed by France shortly after that.

Haguenau recently gained notoriety in historian Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers and the HBO miniseries based on it, when Easy Company was stationed there in early 1945 during World War II.

[edit] Economy

The town has a well balanced economy. Centuries of troubled history in the buffer lands between France and Germany have bequeathed to Haguenau a rich historical and cultural heritage which supports a lively tourist trade. There is also a thriving light manufacturing sector centred on the industrial zone to the west of the town. Here the presence nearby of significant retail developments testifies to Haguenau's importance as a regional commercial centre. The recent extension of the ring road has improved access to the commercial and industrial zones and reduced the traffic congestion which used to be a frequent challenge for vehicle drivers using the road which follows the line of the old city walls on the western side of town.