Lembach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France.

Etymology

The toponym Lembach is of Germanic origin, cognate to modern German Lehm, denoting clay. The Germanic hydronym *-bak(i) entered the French language via High German, and took on two forms: the Germanic form -bach and Romantic -bais.

Geography

Lembach lies in the Sauer valley, surrounded by the woods and sandstone cliffs of the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. It is located on Departmental Road 3 which runs from Wissembourg, 12km to the east of Lembach, to the north-western tip of Bas-Rhin and the onward route to Bitche in the department of Moselle. The German frontier lies some 5km to the north.

The commune, which covers an extensive land area, much of it uninhabitable owing to the topography, also includes the small village of Mattstall and the hamlet of Pfaffenbronn.

History

In September 1972 the commune of Lembach was merged with the neighbouring village of Mattstall to the south. Mattstall retains the semi-independent status of an associated commune.

Notable people

• Author and doctor Paul Bertololy lived in Lembach and died there in 1972. (At the time of his birth at Frankenthal in 1892, Lembach was a part of Germany, and German was the mother tongue in which Bertololy wrote.)

• Claude-Hélène Perrot (1928-2019), historian and Africanist

Landmarks

• Fleckenstein castle

• Frœnsbourg castle

• Maginot line fortifications, known as Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux

See also

• Communes of the Bas-Rhin department

References