Barr, Bas-Rhin

A typical street in Barr

Barr lies in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains at the foot of Mont Sainte-Odile some 25 km (15 miles) south-west of Strasbourg and 5 km (3 miles) north of Epfig. The A35 autoroute passes through the eastern tip of the commune from north to south and Exit  13  lies in the tip of the commune. The D62 runs west through the commune from the exit to Andlau. Access to Barr town is by the D362 from Mittelbergheim in the south, by the D35 from Heiligenstein in the north, and by the D42 which branches from the D1422 north of Gertwiller. The D1422 from Gertwiller in the north runs from north to south through the east of the commune and continues to Saint-Pierre. The D854 goes from the town west through the length of the commune then north to join the D426 in the west. The D426 continues through the western part of the commune to Le Hohwald. The D109 comes from Saint-Nabor in the north to join the D854 in the west of the commune. The D130 branches off the D426 in the west of the commune and goes west to join the D214 at Rothlach. There is also Barr railway station in the town with the railway going north to Gertwiller station and south to Eichhoffen station.[6][7]

Barr is the wine capital of Alsace with the oldest Alsace wine fair (over 100 years) and an historical "Harvest Festival" which is traditionally held the first weekend of October.

La Kirneck river rises in the west of the commune and flows eastwards through the town and continues east to join the Andlau.[6][7]

A view over Barr

Although the first written records mentioning the village of Barr as Barru dates from the year 788, historians believe that the site was occupied long before as evidenced by many prehistoric remains of the Iron Age and Bronze Age discovered in the area.

Barr was originally an imperial property, but in 1522 the Habsburgs leased it to Nicolas Ziegler, and converted into Allod or freehold three years later. His son later sold it to the city of Strasbourg. This led to Barr being involved in the Bishop's War of Strasbourg (1592–1604) against the Catholics of Lorraine, which resulted in Barr's castle and many of its houses being razed to the ground in 1592.[9]

During the Thirty Years War it suffered from the Holy Roman Empire, the Swedes, and the French but less than the surrounding villages. During the conflict with Louis XIV in Strasbourg, the town was occupied by the French: the murder of an officer by a resident brought about the burning of the town in retaliation.

Rebuilding was rapid and thereafter Barr had no further disasters although it had to endure the passage of troops that had to be fed.

In the 18th century there was a legal process that lasted nearly a century opposing the ceding of the localities of the Lordship of Barr to the city of Strasbourg, their suzerain, who claimed all the forests of its vassal. In 1763 a first decision attributed the lands to Strasbourg; there was an appeal and it was not until 1836, under the July Monarchy, that the verdict was definitively confirmed.

Heraldry

Arms of Barr

Blazon: Argent, a portcullis of Sable.

The portcullis in the arms symbolizes the ancestral role of this city as the last barrier on the way to the Mont Sainte-Odile, formerly a sacred place occupied by the Druids.

The Town Hall

List of Successive Mayors[10]

In 2017 the commune had 7,238 inhabitants.

Barr has a very large number of buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments.

Highlights of some of the sites are:

• The Protestant Church of Saint Martin[16]
• The Protestant and Catholic cemeteries
• Barracks, Saint Martin church - school and organ. The based was built by Stiehr Mockers and the instrument designed by Kriess.
• The old synagogue had to be destroyed in 1982 following the collapse of a corner pillar, but the windows of the synagogue were reused for the benefit of the Meinau oratory and some stones including the Tablets of Stone are displayed in the park of the Elisa Foundation in Strasbourg.[17]
• The Town Hall
• A Coaching Inn
• The Museum of the Folie Marco

The commune has over 500 items that are registered as historical objects.[18]

• Richard Hartmann, native of Barr, locomotive manufacturer who founded a large factory in Chemnitz
• Édouard Schuré, esoteric writer
• Jean Hermann (1768–1793), doctor and naturalist whose natural history gave birth to the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg.
• Jean-Frédéric Hermann (1743-1820), brother of Jean, MP for Bas-Rhin and Mayor of Strasbourg.
• Martin von Feuerstein, artist and painter, born on 6 January 1856 in Barr and died 13 February 1931 at Munich.
• Paul Schmitthenner, German architect and University professor.
• Albert Wolff (1906–1989), French-born American Olympic fencer
• Catherine Poulain, (1960-), writer.

• Communes of the Bas-Rhin department