Bischwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France in the 1670s

Work

Cloth and refuge

Bischwiller’s most distinctive work-world is textile work: French Reformed refugees brought cloth-making skills^6,10, and the town later remembered this as the beginning of a flourishing textile industry².

Faith

One Protestant town, divided

The town had been Protestant since 1525, but not simply in one way: German-speaking Protestants and French Reformed refugees^1,2 lived under the same lordship. The church on the Kirchberg¹ was the central religious landmark.

Law & power

A princely lordship

Authority ran through the Birkenfeld-Bischwiller branch of the dukes of Deux-Ponts^3,4. In the 1670s Bischwiller was not yet formally absorbed by the French reunions, though French power in Alsace was already growing^7,12.

What people feared

War nearby

The old church precinct had been made defensible, with a crenellated wall and loopholes¹. That was not symbolic: during the Franco-Dutch War, nearby Haguenau was devastated and its officials took refuge at Bischwiller⁷.

Home & table

Old core, new quarter

The older settlement centered on the church and castle quarters⁵. West of it, a French village and faubourg^5,10 had grown from Huguenot settlement.

Who lived here

Refugees and Alsatians

The population was shaped by migration: French Reformed refugees arrived in 1618 and again in 1649⁹, and later parish memory also names people from German lands, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany².

Roads & news

Haguenau was close

News, fear, and displaced officials could arrive from nearby Haguenau by the Moder plain⁵. The clearest proof is 18 September 1677, when Haguenau senators held council at the Laub in Bischwiller⁷.

Money

Prices are missing

The sources found here show textile growth but not household budgets: no local wage or bread-price series for Bischwiller in the 1670s was found online.

Year by year

1. 1671Christian II inherited Birkenfeld after the death of Charles-Othon, enlarging the ruling family’s possessions. here³
2. 1672The Franco-Dutch War began, drawing Alsace into years of campaigning and billeting. the country^11,12
3. 1673Christian II acquired Ribeaupierre family lands through his wife’s inheritance. here³
4. 1674French and Imperial movements made northern Alsace a campaign zone, with Haguenau central to military operations. nearby^11,12
5. 1675Turenne defeated Imperial forces at Turckheim on 5 January, helping secure Alsace for France during the war. nearby^11,12
6. 1677Haguenau officials met at the Laub in Bischwiller on 18 September while their own city suffered devastation. here⁷
7. 1678The Treaties of Nijmegen began ending the Franco-Dutch War, a settlement people in Alsace would have followed closely. the world
8. 1680The French council at Breisach declared sovereignty over Bischwiller and many other Alsatian lordships. here^13,14

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

• Bischwiller was a bourg on the Moder River in Lower Alsace, between Drusenheim and Haguenau. from the sources⁵
• In this decade the place belonged to the Birkenfeld-Bischwiller branch of the dukes of Deux-Ponts, not directly to the city of Strasbourg. from the sources^3,4
• Christian II of Deux-Ponts-Birkenfeld-Bischwiller was born at Bischwiller in 1637 and was the ruling prince associated with the lordship during the 1670s. from the sources^3,8
• Christian II inherited Birkenfeld in 1671 after the death of Charles-Othon, and in 1673 inherited Ribeaupierre lands through his wife’s family. from the sources³
• Bischwiller’s main Protestant church stood on the Kirchberg, the church hill, on the site of a medieval church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. from the sources¹
• The dukes of Deux-Ponts had fortified Bischwiller, and the church precinct was enclosed by a crenellated wall with loopholes so townspeople could use it as a refuge. from the sources¹
• The older town core included the church quarter and the castle quarter around Tiefenthal. from the sources⁵
• The Reformation had reached Bischwiller in 1525, and by the seventeenth century the town had both German-speaking Protestant inhabitants and a French Reformed refugee community. from the sources^1,2
• A first French Reformed refugee colony was received at Bischwiller in 1618, and further refugees arrived in 1649 after being forced out by the duke of Lorraine. inferred⁹
• By the seventeenth century, a French village and a faubourg had been added west of the older German village by French-speaking Huguenot refugees. from the sources^5,10
• The French Reformed colony is credited in later histories with introducing or strengthening cloth-making in Bischwiller. from the sources^6,10
• The Protestant parish history says Bischwiller developed rapidly and became a town with a flourishing textile industry after the arrival of Huguenots and immigrants from German lands, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. inferred²
• A register known as the “Poulet” register, now associated with the Musée de la Laub, recorded Huguenot arrivals at Bischwiller. inferred²
• Before the 1680 royal reunions, Bischwiller was an Alsatian lordship under a prince of the Empire in a province increasingly dominated by France after the Thirty Years’ War. from the sources^7,12
• During the Franco-Dutch War, the Haguenau region suffered badly; Haguenau was devastated in the fighting of 1674–1677, and on 18 September 1677 nine Haguenau senators held council at the Laub in Bischwiller while refugees were there. inferred⁷
• Turenne’s winter campaign of 1674–1675 was fought in Alsace, with French winter quarters around Haguenau and the battle of Turckheim on 5 January 1675. from the sources^11,12
• On 9 August 1680, just after the decade, the French council at Breisach declared royal sovereignty over many Alsatian lordships, including Bischwiller. from the sources^13,14
• No online source found in this quick search gives a reliable house-by-house description of Bischwiller’s dwellings in the 1670s. not known
• No local wage or bread-price series for Bischwiller in the 1670s was found online in this quick search. not known

Sources

1. Église protestante de Bischwiller. Wikipedia
2. Notre histoire. Paroisse protestante de Bischwiller
3. Birkenfeld-Bischwiller. Fédération des Sociétés d’Histoire et d’Archéologie d’Alsace
4. Bischwiller. Wikipedia
5. Bischwiller. Areq
6. Réfugiés protestants et manufactures de draps en Alsace. Biblia Universalis
7. La guerre de Hollande ou guerre de Turenne dans la région de Haguenau et sur la Zorn (1672–1678). Bertrand Jost
8. Deux-Ponts (Zweibrücken). Fédération des Sociétés d’Histoire et d’Archéologie d’Alsace
9. Villes neuves, villes refuges. Généalogie d’Alsace, 2016
10. Bischwiller (67). Chroniques Familiales, 2023
11. Turenne’s winter campaign. Wikipedia
12. Battle of Turckheim. Wikipedia
13. Politique des réunions. Larousse
14. Politique des Réunions. Wikipedia

Bischwiller in other decades

Nearby, about the same time