Guewenheim

Guewenheim takes its name from Chief Gebwin, who founded the village. It was almost entirely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, with only one house remaining before the inhabitants took refuge in the valley, notably in Sewen. From 1679, Swiss emigrants came to repopulate the village, which grew to 25 families. In 1871, after Napoleon III's defeat, Alsace came under German rule and the village, then called Gewenheim in Alsatian, experienced a period of prosperity. The discovery of potash in 1904 profoundly changed local life: the Bian factory employed more and more women, while men joined the mines. During World War II, Guewenheim suffered heavy losses with the forced conscription of many residents into the German army. The village was liberated on November 29, 1944, by the 5th Regiment of Moroccan Tirailleurs, then occupied by the 1st Regiment of Volunteers of Yonne until December 2. A monument honoring the fighters of the 1st RVY was erected in 1952 at the crossroads of the roads to Guewenheim, Michelbach, and Roderen. In the 1960s, potash mines and the automobile factories of Mulhouse and Sochaux became the main employers in the region. By 1970, the village had 750 inhabitants and saw residential development with the creation of two housing estates: Grosse Pierre and À l’Orée du Bois. At the end of 2011, the population stood at 1,327. Tourist attractions in Guewenheim include the communal washhouse, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Birches, 18th and 19th-century farms located on Main Street, Saint Maurice Street, and Factory Street, as well as 19th-century workers' houses on Main Street and Mgr Perros Street.