The best traffic-free bike rides around Uffholtz

The 19th century was characterized by industrialization, especially in the textile sector. In 1860, one of the first workers' settlements of a textile company was built. Like all of Alsace (except Belfort), Cernay became part of the German Empire in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War, where it remained until 1918. During the First World War, Sennheim was on the front lines and was approximately 80 percent destroyed.

The Cernay National Cemetery is a memorial dedicated to the soldiers who fell during the battles of Vieil-Armand and Steinbach in the summer of 1914. Created in 1920, it was designed to house the bodies exhumed from temporary military cemeteries in the region and was reorganized after World War II to include soldiers who died between 1940 and 1945. This cemetery contains 2,238 French bodies, as well as Czech, Russian, British, and Serbian combatants. Two ossuaries contain the remains of 938 combatants.

The German blockhouses at Hartmannswillerkopf, also known as Vieil-Armand, are located on a strategic hill in the Vosges mountains in Alsace, at an altitude of 956 meters. During the First World War, the Germans fortified this position with reinforced concrete bunkers, small forts, and infrastructure such as a cable car and a power station for supply and defense. The site controlled a key observation point over the Alsace plain, making it a major focus of the fighting. The French, on the offensive, had to confront these heavily defended positions around 1915-1916, with very heavy losses on both sides. Today, the German remains at Hartmannswillerkopf remain remarkably well preserved and bear witness to the intensity of the fighting on this front.

Like all of Alsace (except Belfort), Cernay became part of the German Empire in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War, where it remained until 1918. During the First World War, Sennheim was on the front lines and was approximately 80 percent destroyed. After two decades of recovery, German troops marched into the town again on June 17, 1940. From 1940 to 1945, the Waffen-SS Sennheim training camp was located here in a former home for the mentally ill, where mainly non-commissioned officers from French-speaking countries, such as those for the Charlemagne Division, were trained. According to Yad Vashem, fifteen former Jewish residents of the community perished in the Holocaust. The town was again affected during the fighting for the Alsace bridgehead (Poche de Colmar).

The gate was part of the city fortifications; the other two gates were demolished in the 19th century. Only the lower part of the Porte de Thann dates back to the 13th century; the superstructure with its battlements and battlements was added in the 16th century. After the destruction in the First World War, the city gate was restored, and only three of its four floors were rebuilt. A museum was established in the building (Wikipedia).

here people watch birds

Beautiful cycle path along the La Thur

Cernay, German: Sennheim, is a well-kept town with almost 12,000 inhabitants.