Molsheim

Molsheim is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The total population in 2017 was 9,312. Molsheim had been a very fast-growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,335 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt since. The urban unit of Molsheim had 26,925 inhabitants in 2017, from 16,888 in 1968. Molsheim is part of the metropolitan area of Strasbourg. Cityscape The old town of Molsheim is well preserved and contains a considerable number of old houses and buildings of typically Alsatian architecture. The most notable buildings are the medieval Tour des Forgerons, the Renaissance Metzig, the baroque (although built in late gothic style) Église des Jésuites – an inordinately large church insofar as it could house the entire population of the town when built – and the classical Hôtel de ville. The former monastery La Chartreuse, partly destroyed in the French Revolution, now houses a museum; covering an area of , it used to be a genuine city within the city. History Excavations carried out to the north of Molsheim in 1935 revealed the presence of many Merovingian tombs (sixth and seventh centuries), along the old Roman road going to Avolsheim. "Mollesheim" was first mentioned about 820, in a deed of donating a vineyard of the bishop Adeloch to the chapter of Saint-Thomas. Bishop Adeloch is buried in the church of Saint-Thomas in Strasbourg. In 1219, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II granted the town many rights and franchises. By 1263 Molsheim was already surrounded by a wall which, in the medieval sense, made the town a city. However, the bishops of Strasbourg continued to own properties in Molsheim, resulting in conflicts with the Germanic emperors, a quarrel that was resolved in 1308 in favor of Bishop Jean de Dürbheim (German: Johann I. von Straßburg). Jean de Dürbheim enlarged the city wall in 1318 and built a château. When the bishop died in 1328, he was entombed in the chapel of a hospice he had founded, the future site of the Jesuit church, which is the present parish church of Molsheim. His tomb is still visible today.