Wintzenheim-Kochersberg

Perched on the slope of the Goeftberg, Wintzenheim-Kochersberg is a small village in the Kochersberg region located just 25 minutes from Strasbourg. Its subsoil, made up of clay-limestone terrain dating from the secondary era, contains resources such as gypsum and salt, exploited for millennia. These past activities are still visible through place names: Lehmgrube (clay quarry), Steingrube (stone quarry), Gypsgrube (gypsum quarry), and Kalkhof (limestone farm).

Archaeological excavations have revealed that the site was already occupied during the late Bronze Age, between 1200 and 750 BC. Near an ancient Roman road connecting Kuttolsheim to Saverne, the village also yielded more recent remains: in 1916, a slab tomb containing an iron sword from the 6th century was discovered there.

The name Wintzenheim originates from the Latin vinetum (vineyard) or vinitor (vine-grower), reflecting a local winemaking tradition. A rare fact in the region, the village housed three distinct places of worship at the beginning of the 20th century: a Protestant church, a Catholic church, and a synagogue, of which only the entrance door remains today. At the heart of the village, the Laube, a former guardhouse probably built in the 15th century (although the date 1583 is engraved on its door), overlooks the central square. Near the washhouse, a pressing stone also testifies to the agricultural past of the place.