Ribeauvillé 5.53

Ribeauvillé is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.Its inhabitants are called Ribeauvillois.GeographyThe town is located around 10mi north of Colmar and 75kmsouth of Strasbourg. It lies at the foot of the Vosges Mountains.HistoryKnown in the 8th century as Rathaldovilare, the town passed from the Bishops of Basel to the Lords of Rappoltstein, who were among the most famous nobles in Alsace. The Lord of Rappoltstein was the King or Protector of the wandering minstrels of the land, who purchased his protection by paying him a tax.When the family became extinct in 1673, this office of "King of the Pipers" (Pfeiferkönig) passed to the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. The minstrels had a pilgrimage chapel near Rappoltsweiler, dedicated to their patron saint, Maria von Dusenbach, and here they held an annual feast on 8 September. Ribeauvillé was commonly known as Rappoltsweiler until the 19th century.SightsRibeauvillé is in part surrounded by ancient walls, and has many picturesque medieval houses, and two old churches, of St Gregory and St Augustine, both fine Gothic buildings. The town hall contains a valuable collection of antiquities. The Carolabad, a saline spring with a temperature of 64 F. (which held a great reputation in the Middle Ages), was re-discovered in 1888, and made Rappoltsweiler a watering-place.