Bas-Rhin is a département in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin department. Note that both belong to the European Upper Rhine region. It is, with the Haut-Rhin, one of the two departments of the traditional Alsace region which until 1871, also included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort. The more populous and densely populated of the pair, it had 1,148,073 inhabitants in 2020. The prefecture is based in Strasbourg. The INSEE and Post Code is 67.
Sélestat is a commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin department, the town lies on the Ill river, 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the Rhine and the German border. Sélestat is located between the largest communes of Alsace, Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
Haguenau is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture.
The Colmar Pocket was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace and adjacent eastern Lorraine, but could not clear central Alsace. During Operation Nordwind in December 1944, the 19th Army attacked north out of the Pocket in support of other German forces attacking south from the Saar into northern Alsace. In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army cleared the Pocket of German forces.
The Upper Rhine High Command, known for three days as Army Group Upper Rhine, was a short-lived headquarters unit of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) created on the Western Front during World War II. The Upper Rhine High Command was formed on 26 November 1944 and deactivated on 25 January 1945. The sole commander of this headquarters unit was Heinrich Himmler.
Ingwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Bouxwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department, Alsace, Grand Est, northeastern France. Likely meaning "Bucco's land", Bouxwiller is the capital of the Bouxwiller canton and is located within the Saverne arrondissement about 34 kilometres (21 mi) northwest of Strasbourg.
Gambsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France, in the historical region of Alsace.
Gries is a commune in the Bas-Rhin département in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies 7 km to the south-southeast of Haguenau.
Gundershoffen is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Kindwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, France.
Lampertsloch is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is located less than nine kilometres from the French–German border.
Neuwiller-lès-Saverne is a commune located in the historic and cultural region of Alsace and the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park in northeastern France. Neuwiller-lès-Saverne is within the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region, and since 2021, is part of the European Collectivity of Alsace territorial collective. The commune is also a member of the Hanau-La Petite Pierre commune community.
Schillersdorf is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Westhoffen is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France.
Mommenheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department. The department is in the historic Alsace region of France, and is itself within the Grand Est administrative region of north-eastern France.
Seppois-le-Bas is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The inhabitants of Seppois-le-Bas are called Bas-Seppoisiens and Bas-Seppoisiennes.
The history of the Jews in Alsace is one of the oldest in Europe. It was first attested to in 1165 by Benjamin of Tudela, who wrote about a "large number of learned men" in "Astransbourg"; and it is assumed that it dates back to around the year 1000. Although Jewish life in Alsace was often disrupted by outbreaks of pogroms, at least during the Middle Ages, and reined in by harsh restrictions on business and movement, it has had a continuous existence ever since it was first recorded. At its peak, in 1870, the Jewish community of Alsace numbered 35,000 people.
The Château de Lichtenberg is a castle built on a singular prominence in the northern Vosges at the end of the village of Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The castle was first mentioned in 1206 and is most well known as the home of the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg. It was left in ruins in 1870 after bombardment by Württemberg troops during the Franco-Prussian War, but was restored in the 1990s and is open to the public.
Major General Roderick Random Allen was a senior United States Army officer, who commanded the 20th and 12th Armored Divisions during World War II. Under his command of the 12th AD, the division defended Strasbourg from recapture; it provided the armored contingent in the closure of the Colmar Pocket and the liberation of Colmar; it spearheaded General George Patton's drive to the Rhine; captured intact the remaining bridge over the Danube River and broke the German defense line; and played a major part in blocking the Brenner Pass, thereby trapping over a million German soldiers in Italy as the war ended. En route to the Brenner Pass it overran eleven concentration camps at Landsberg, Germany.
