L'Illwald

Temple Protestant

by JLBG

The Gothic church of the Franciscan convent was built from the 13th through the 15th. In 1878, when Alsace was under German rule, it was turned into a Protestant temple and on this occasion, the nave was put down and only the choir was kept.

Maison Régionale du pain

by JLBG

The first photo shows the old house that was the seat of the guild of bakers. It has been rehabilited and since 2001, it is the" Maison Régionale du pain " (Regional house of bread).It is open for visits and traditional ways of bread making are on display.

The North side (second photo) has been added a glass wall that protects the superb stone spiral staircase. Unfortunately, photos are difficult and it is not easy to see it because of the reflection of Saint-Georges church!

Château d’eau

by JLBG

This beautiful (in my opinion) and amazing structure in not mentioned in any guide, paper or electronic. I felt that it should be what is named in French a “château d’eau” (water tower) but the windows on top, where should be the tank, puzzled me and did not fit. However, after searching hard, I found that it was actually a water tower or better a Wasserstrurm, as it was built between 1906 and 1907 when Alsace was ruled by Germany. It was designed by Behr, an ingenier of the Melioratiosamt. The tower is 48 m high and topped by a 500 m3 tank made in riveted sheet iron. It was built following the model of a water tower built in 1893 in Deventer (the Netherlands). The style is neoromanesque with a coating of white and yellow bricks. It was topped by the Hohenzollern imperial eagle which was removed in 1918 and replaced by the Gallic cock. It has been inscribed in the French Heritage list in 1992.

However, It does not seem to be used as a water tower but I have not found any further information on it.

Sélestat on the Alsace Wine Route

by Beausoleil

"Please check my Travelogue for more photos"

We originally started our day planning to visit Mont Ste. Odile and Sélestat and got sidelined in Obernai. We absolutely loved Obernai, but when our parking time ran out, we reverted to Plan A and drove to Sélestat. We accidentally got on the Autoroute so arrived very quickly!

Sélestat is a much larger town than Obernai and has more modern buildings. However, the center of town is quite charming, including this fountain square.

"Got children . . . ?"

Many towns in France have a carousel either in a town square or in a Place beside the church. These are always fun for the kids. You can have a coffee while they ride and everyone is happy.

If you don't have children with you, have the coffee anyway and enjoy watching someone else's children!