Blodelsheim

Blodelsheim, with its earliest traces dating back to the 9th century under the name FLATOLVESHEIM, underwent several spelling changes over the centuries: BLADOLVESHEIM in 1064, BLADOLTZHEIM in 1272, BLODOLTZHEIM in 1441, and then BLODELSHEIM in 1580. Neolithic discoveries were made east of the old Roman road, which once crossed the region west of the villages of Rumersheim, Blodelsheim, and Fessenheim. Even today, the route of this road can be seen, used as a rural path locally called the "Rhömerstraessle." Along the banks of the Rhine, near Ottmarsheim and Blodelsheim, the Habsburgs built fortresses amid tensions between the Bishopric of Strasbourg and the Counts of Ferrette. These rivalries escalated into open war, culminating in a decisive battle on June 8, 1228, Pentecost Monday, between the armies of Berthold von Teck, Bishop of Strasbourg, and those of Count Frederick II of Ferrette, allied with Count Egenone of Freiburg. The defeat of the Count of Ferrette, occurring between Blodelsheim and Hirtzfelden, was marked by heavy losses. In 1272, after a pact between Basel and Neuenburg, the troops of Rudolph of Habsburg devastated the bourgeois harvests, who retaliated by crossing the Rhine to pillage and burn Blodelsheim. The village preserves several emblematic monuments: the 18th-century Saint Blaise Church, featuring a Roman lintel and a Silbermann organ; the 17th-century Hospital House; a half-timbered farm from the same period; the presbytery built in 1772; and the town hall, erected in 1796.