Contemporary

figures

As perusal in Soultz, ladies firs: Katia Krafft-Conrad* is the famous vulcanologist who devoted her life to studying volcanos and made us wonder at the photos she brought back from her worldwide journeys with her husband Maurice.

Auguste Gasser*, a cultured man with an inquiring mind, came from one of the oldest families in Soultz dating back to the 15th century, and was the director of the Revue d’Alsace and author of the Livre d’Or (the history book) of Soultz.

Charles Knoll* opened up our town’s history with the means available at the time. His work was impressive although some of his theories have since been denied.

They have left their mark on Soultz and are part and parcel of our past but also of History in general.

The Beltz family* boasts a long line of artists present in Soultz as early as the 16th century. Discover the wide range of their talents from Tobie to Robert Beltz*, the world famous illustrator.

The de Heeckeren d’Anthès family* was one of the most generous towards our town. Discover a European story that stretches beyond the famous duel between Georges Charles* and the Russian poet Aleksander Pushkin*.

The Waldner de Freundsteins*, an old nobility family, are one of the areas’ oldest families and their origins are lost in the mists of time.

Families with

a longstanding

history

Great military

people

Soultz is a town where great military people were born.

Such as General Marie-Joseph-Guillaume Bouat*, hero of the Crimean war who was rewarded with praise and decoration for his courage and composure,

or General François-Jean Werlé*, commander of the Legion of Honour who was made baron of the Empire by Napoleon and whose name can be seen on the Arc de Triomphe,

or Ferdinand Freiherr von Hompesch*, last commander of the Order of St-John of Jerusalem* in Soultz before becoming the last Grand Master of the Order based in Malta.

The history of Soultz and Alsace is also one of heartbreak and tears, marked by a generation sacrificed at the altar of human madness called the « Malgré-Nous* » who were enrolled by force in the Wehrmacht during the annexation of Alsace to the third Reich.

In Soultz, women* have precedence in church. Would you like to know why* ? Discover at the same time the origin of the nickname given to the people of Soultz: Babaschlacker*, the gruel lickers.

From the top of his observatory D’r Moretzi*, a figure of Soultz who cannot be ignored, is the Patron Saint of the town but also the chronicler* of town life.

History

and

stories