page_title: Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin / History
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Vue de l'ancien château de Bouxwiller English: Painting of the Château de Bouxwiller in Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin, France
context_page_description: Bouxwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Likely meaning "Bucco's land", Bouxwiller is the capital of the Bouxwiller canton and is located within the Saverne arrondissement about 34 kilometres northwest of Strasbourg.
  The earliest known mention of Bouxwiller dates to 724 AD. In the 13ᵗʰ century, the town came into possession of the Lichtenberg family, who constructed the Château de Bouxwiller here in the early 14ᵗʰ century. Bouxwiller was the capital of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg, and residence of the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg, throughout its existence from 1480–1736. The Château de Bouxwiller was pillaged during the French Revolution and its remnants were gone by the early 19ᵗʰ century. In 1973, the villages of Griesbach-le-Bastberg, Imbsheim, and Riedheim were incorporated into the commune of Bouxwiller.
context_section_description: Tiles and pottery shards indicate the presence of Romans on Bastberg, where the remains of a laconicum (Roman bath) were discovered in 1739. The earliest written mention of Bouxwiller was in 724, when Radolph and Eloïn gave the property of their respective mothers located in Puxuvilare to the Wissembourg Abbey.
  Bouxwiller came into the possession of the knights of Lichtenberg around 1260. Rudolf I of Germany elevated Bouxwiller to the rank of city to attract the allegiance of the Lichtenberg family; this status was renewed by Albert I of Germany in 1301. This status allowed Bouxwiller to have a city wall and host a market, among other new sources of revenue. In 1312, the city was described as an oppidum, then meaning a fortified city. The Lichtenberg family built a moated castle in Bouxwiller—the Château de Bouxwiller—which was first mentioned in 1329, although it incorporated a chapel that was mentioned in 1315, when it hosted funeral services for John the First of Lichtenberg. The chapel also contained an epitaph and the tomb of John, Count of Werd and Landgrave of Lower Alsace, who died in 1376.
  Count Jacob of Lichtenberg died in 1480 without issue, leaving his territory to be divided among his nieces. The Bailiwick of Bouxwiller was inherited by Anne of Lichtenberg and her husband Philipp I of Hanau-Babbenhausen (later Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg) to become a part of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. Bouxwiller was the capital of the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg and residence of the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg throughout its existence from 1480–1736. After being looted during the German Peasants' War, the castle was renovated in the mid-sixteenth century by Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg and expanded with two new wings and lavish gardens. In June 1683, French King Louis XIV and his son Louis the Grand Dauphin made a stop in Bouxwiller and three years later, the city came under French control.
  In 1736, the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was transferred to Landgrave Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt, officially becoming a part of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. The Château de Bouxwiller became the residence of Louis IX's neglected wife Countess Caroline of Zweibrücken. During the French Revolution, the château was confiscated by the state and was pillaged in November 1793 by revolutionaries. The last remnants of the château were gone by the early 19ᵗʰ century. The medieval fortified city's two gates were razed in 1830.
  In 1787, there were about 400–500 households in Bouxwiller, of which there were 40–50 Catholic families, 40 Jewish families, and over 300 families of the Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Church. Mining brought prosperity to the commune in the nineteenth century, but ended in 1957.
  In 1973, the villages of Griesbach-le-Bastberg, Imbsheim, and Riedheim were incorporated into the commune of Bouxwiller.
caption: The Château de Bouxwiller in the late 17th century.
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