Kaysersberg is a former French commune located in the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region. This small commune is located in the historical and cultural region of Alsace and became, on January 1, 2016, a delegated commune of the commune news from Kaysersberg Vignoble. Its inhabitants are called Kaysersbergeois and Kaysersbergeoises.
Kaysersberg was voted France's favorite village after the France 2 program presented by Stéphane Bern on Tuesday. It was in competition with twelve other exceptional municipalities.
The Kaysersberg valley has an identity marked and shaped by its unique history. It is the reflection of a region crossed by the tumults of history and the various cultural, religious or architectural movements. It is a syncretic richness that one finds while traversing the valley of Kaysersberg. Romanesque church, stone fortifications, cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, places of meditation, frescoes by Maurice Denis, there are many examples of a past that marked its presence.
History of Kaysersberg:
Due to its strategic position which makes it possible to control the transit between Haute Alsace and Lorraine (via the Bonhomme pass), the Kaysersberg valley has been occupied by the military since Roman times. At the beginning of the 13th century (around 1218), the fortress was built. It is the beginning of the prosperous period of the city, under the control of the Hohenstaufen family. Kaysersberg became imperial city of the Holy Empire in 1293.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the city prospered thanks to the granting of numerous privileges such as the right to have a weekly market and an annual fair. The city is part of the Decapolis (mutual alliance of 10 cities in Alsace). Its wine production was very successful and was exported as far as the Empire.
The 17th century was difficult following the Thirty Years' War which left the region ruined by the passage of different armies, but the city returned to prosperity in the second half of the century.
In the 19th century, a large number of textile industries settled in the region and the 20th century saw the city partially destroyed by the Second World War.
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