Three Fairy Tale Villages in Alsace

Old World Arts Charm Visitors Boersch, Bergheim, and Mittelbergheim

Nov 28, 2008 Christina Rebuffet-Broadus

In Alsace, storybook villages keep traditions alive, but without living in the past. Take a trip to three of these medieval villages, southwest of Strasbourg.

Paris in the Spring, Summer on the French Riviera. Some regions of France seem to have married certain seasons, and for holiday visitors, Winter's Alsatian bride cloaks herself in the purest of colors. Small villages preserve true Alsatian traditions, passing them through time as from mother to newlywed daughter. In the North, Boersch, Mittelbergheim, and Berghiem hold on to Alsace's artisanal and architectural history, discreetly displaying their charms.

Boersch

"It looks like a toy, a miniature city that, in a small space, unites all of the characteristic buildings of the Alsatian vineyards," wrote Alsatian artist Hansi (Jean-Jacques Waltz). This tiny village, just near Rosheim, indeed seems to have been plucked out of a fairy tale and now enchants visitors of all ages.

The city walls have encircled Grand Place since 1340. Today, geraniums blush up the Renaissance-era houses that surround the Hôtel de Ville, built in 1572. The well—with sculpted columns holding three gear wheels and six buckets—surely boasts of being the most beautiful of Alsace. In a few of the streets, the old carriage entrances proudly wear the emblems of old time artisans.

Bergheim

Above the 14th century gateway to Bergheim, a small stone man sticks his tongue out and flashes his buttocks to all who have not yet crossed the city threshold. When it comes to decreeing a city's political asylum, why settle for parchman paper and official seals? The grimaces of this ribald fellow were not meant to amuse tourists, but to taunt the king's police force who could not arrest political criminals hiding within the city walls!

Passing under the bear behind, through the ramparts dotted with defense towers, this little wine producing city reveals its full charms. With its triple nave Gothic church, Place d'Armes where the half timbered houses whisper their pastel colors, and the elegant mayor's office, it is hard not to stop and savor time in Bergheim. A wall hung sundial warns those looking up, "As a shadow, flees life," but invites you nevertheless to pause and admire its craftmanship.

Mittelbergheim

Here, the vineyard leans against the Vosges and the village rises from a sun soaked shoulder, escaping the forests and swamps of the Andlau. One of the oldest Alsatian wine regions, Mittlebergheim has been producing wines for the Andlau Abbey since the 11th century and today twenty or so wine growers continue to work the land. In the village, 15th and 16th century Renaissance houses line the gentle slopes of the two main streets. These houses, massive and austere, hide centuries solid wine presses and cellars behind their vaulted doorways. At the crossroads, the hotel de ville shows off its seductively arched facade and its elegant loggia, crowned by a bulbed roof. When kings still ruled over France, the village counted stone masons, blacksmiths, and coopers among its craftsmen, in addition to its numerous wine growers. In the watery mirror of the village's seven fountains, the sun reflects the old iron emblems, still suspended from the workshops long after sound of the blacksmith's hammer has stopped echoing through the stone streets.

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Looking down a cobbled street in Boersch