Bollenberg Hill - History and Legends

In Celtic times, the Bollenberg served as a landmark to determine the dates of religious festivals through the alignment of the sunrise with certain mountains, associated with the Gallic god Belenos. On February 2nd, during Candlemas and the Imbolc festival, the sun rises precisely along this axis.

Later, the Romans settled on this site and built a Gallo-Roman villa in the nearby vineyard.

In the 7th century, a church dedicated to Saint Martin was built. This place of worship, frequented by several villages such as Bergholtz, Orschwihr, and Rouffach, housed Merovingian sarcophagi now displayed at the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar. Around this church, a regional market thrived until the 12th century before declining, leaving only the parish of Orschwihr until 1550. Processions later revived these places, but the church was sold as national property in 1792 and destroyed in 1838.

The Bollenberg belonged to the lords of Bollwiller until 1632, although the existence of a castle on the hill is not confirmed by any archives or remains. In the 18th century, the etymology of the name was linked to Apollo, the Roman sun god, before becoming Saint Apollina and then Saint Polona, protector of the hill.

Above Orschwihr stands the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a pilgrimage site marked by ex-votos.

The hill is also famous for its past as a gathering place for witches, mentioned during the Rouffach trials. Every night from August 14th to 15th, a ceremony attracts pilgrims: the Holy Cross Chapel, nicknamed the "Witches' Chapel," is illuminated by the "Haxafir" (Witches' Fire), while the conscripts of Orschwihr burn a witch effigy on a pyre. Numerous legends, such as the appearance of a "White Lady," still surround this historically rich site.