Oltingue

Before the Thirty Years' War, Oltingue was the most populous of the 33 villages in the lordship of Ferrette. The village retains traces of terraced cultivation, once dedicated to vineyards, made possible by a dry climate favored by its sheltered location at the foot of a hill. Crossed by the Ill River, the commune holds many sites to discover. Among them, the Oltingue Farmer's Museum, housed in a half-timbered house, recounts the life of the Sundgau people before 20th-century changes through the collections of Abbé Étienne Bilger (1901-1980). The Saint-Martin-des-Champs Church, a classified Historic Monument dating from the 14th century, contains graves from the 7th and 8th centuries as well as frescoes predating 1350. Built in 1824 to replace the main church deemed too small and distant, Saint Martin's Church houses a classified Callinet organ and remarkable interior furnishings. Three kilometers northeast of the village, the Saint-Brice Chapel, documented in 1361 and partially rebuilt in 1669, was an important pilgrimage site, mentioned as early as 1576 on the Alsace map. A hermitage stood there in 1567, now replaced by a popular farm inn in good weather. Finally, the Great Trees trail, accessible from the Saint-Brice Chapel parking lot, offers a walk through preserved nature.