Buhl and Schweighouse: a blend of industry and history

Park in the car park on Place du Marché, opposite the Maurice Koechlin School.

(S/E) With your back to the school and its miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower, head straight along Rue du Marché, a narrow pedestrianised lane that winds its way between the houses. At the end, cross Rue du Florival at the pedestrian crossing, then walk along it to the left on the opposite pavement, towards the town hall with its blue façade.

(1) Walk past the town hall and continue straight on along Rue de la Gare. At the next junction, turn right down Rue de la Fabrique. About twenty metres further on, cross the road at the pedestrian crossing and continue along the pavement on the left.

(2) Walk past the Maison Koechlin and continue down this pavement for about 700 metres, until you reach the junction near the Collège du Hugstein. Turn left here, staying on the left-hand pavement, and cross the Lauch via the small wooden footbridge. Immediately afterwards, at the entrance to the roundabout, turn right to cross Rue de la Fabrique at the pedestrian crossing, then cross Route de Colmar at the next crossing and head towards the replica of the Eiffel Tower.

(3) Cross the small Rue de la Porte de Buhl at the pedestrian crossing, then head straight on along the cycle path on Rue du Trottberg, which runs alongside the main road, and follow it straight on for about 700 m. At the entrance to the residential area, continue for a few dozen metres along Rue du Trottberg, which has become a narrow street.

(4) Turn right onto Rue de la Liberté and follow it upwards. At the small junction, carry on straight ahead, then straight ahead again at the ‘give way’ sign.

Blue Disc signposting

At the end of Rue de la Liberté, turn right onto Rue de la Carrière, towards Lautenbach, and immediately follow it to the left. At the junction with Rue du Réservoir, carry on straight ahead.

Blue Disc and Red Ring signposting

Leave Buhl via a small tarmac road that climbs. Pass a small car park on your right and head into the forest. At the three-way junction, turn left towards Saint-Gangolphe and Col du Bannstein, and begin a gentle descent. Pass a small flight of steps on your left and reach the edge of the forest.

Red Ring signposting

(5) Turn left for a steep but short descent towards Schweighouse. Enter the village and continue straight on along Rue Saint-Michel. At the junction by the wash house, head slightly left onto Route de Soultzmatt, towards the church.

(6) Walk past the church and head for the T-junction.

End of signposting

Cross to the opposite side at the pedestrian crossing situated slightly to the right, then head down Rue de la Vallée on the pavement to the left, towards Buhl and Guebwiller. About 150 m further down, let Rue de la Vallée continue to the left and stay on the main road, which curves to the right and becomes Rue des Prés, until you reach the D430 at the bottom.

(7) Carefully cross the D430 to reach the street opposite, Rue du Colonel Bouvet. Leave this street immediately, in the middle of its left-hand bend, and continue straight on along a small, inconspicuous path between a stone wall and a wire fence. At the end of the path, you’ll come out at a right angle onto Rue du Colonel Bouvet; follow it to the right. At the T-junction, turn right to enter the Parc de la Vallée neighbourhood. Walk past a riding centre and continue straight on to the bridge leading to the old spinning mill, opposite its ruins.

(8) Turn round in front of the bridge and return to the T-junction, then carry on straight ahead at the ‘give way’ sign to follow Rue du Colonel Bouvet, which gradually runs alongside the River Lauch on your right. At the end of the street, turn right to cross the River Lauch via the small bridge with pink-and-purple railings on Rue du Florival. Immediately afterwards, head slightly to the right onto Rue des Vosges, which climbs uphill. At the junction, carry on straight ahead onto Rue de la Paroisse. Just after the left-hand bend, leave the street to the right by climbing a small flight of three steps, followed by a path that climbs steeply. At the three-way junction (not shown on the map), take the right-hand path. The path leads onto Rue du Ballon, which winds round a hillock: follow it straight ahead and, just before the next junction, head left up the hillock to the wayside cross.

(9) Head back down the hill via the same route to the nearby junction.

Red Triangle markings

Take Rue du Schrangen, which winds sharply to the left and descends to the old wash house on Place de la Fontaine.

End of signposting

(10) Continue straight on along the narrow lane leading to Place de l’Église. Walk round Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and return to the old washhouse.

(10) In front of the washhouse, turn left down Rue de l’Église. About a hundred metres further down, leave this street and turn left onto Rue Saint-Pirmin, which runs just below the church and cuts across its monumental staircase halfway up. Follow it to the ‘Stop’ sign.

Red Triangle signposting

Take the sharp right-hand bend into Rue de l’École, which leads down towards Place du Marché. Stay on this street until you reach the school to return to the car park (S/E).

Points to note

Between (3) and (4), the cycle path is shared with cyclists.

(7) The D430 is a very busy road and has no pedestrian crossing at this point. At peak times, it can be difficult or even dangerous to cross: take extra care.

The path that follows the (7), then the steps and the steep path leading up to the (9), mean that the circular route is not particularly suitable for pushchairs.

(8) The buildings of the former spinning mill are private property: view them from the street without crossing the bridge leading to them.

Information

(1) The mural is located inside the town hall, whose reception is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8.30 am to 12 noon and from 2 pm to 5 pm, on Tuesdays from 2 pm to 5 pm and on Fridays from 8.30 am to 12 noon (2026 opening hours). Ask at reception for details on how to view it. (10) The altarpiece can be viewed freely and at no cost during the church’s opening hours. Free guided tours take place on Sundays in July and August, from 2.30 pm to 5 pm (enquiries at the town hall, 03 89 62 15 95).

Shops and restaurants in the centre of Buhl. There are no public toilets along the route.

(3) There is a picnic table next to the replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Access

(S/E) Parking is free. On Tuesday mornings, the market takes up part of the car park; other spaces remain available near the chemist’s.

Buses on route 68R042 Linthal–Guebwiller (Fluo Grand Est network) serve Buhl and Schweighouse. The ‘Buhl – Monument aux Morts’ stop is just a stone’s throw from (1). The nearest SNCF railway station is Bollwiller, connected to Guebwiller by bus route 68R054.

For further information, please contact the Guebwiller and Pays du Florival Tourist Office: tourisme-guebwiller.fr, 03 89 76 10 63.

(S/E) Opposite the school, a replica of the Eiffel Tower, approximately 3 metres high and created by brothers Sébastien and Pascal Flory, was unveiled in 2003. Since 1987, the school has been named after Maurice Koechlin.

(1) Buhl Town Hall houses, in its former council chamber, the mural ‘Le Village heureux’ (‘The Happy Village’), painted in 1962 by Jean-Paul Koenig, who was born in Buhl in 1924. Approximately 8 metres long, it features some 70 portraits of Buhl residents in medieval costume.

(2) The Maison Koechlin, at 102 Rue de la Fabrique, commemorates Maurice Koechlin (1856–1946), who was born in Buhl, the son of a textile manufacturer. Hired by the Eiffel company in 1879, he worked on the Garabit Viaduct and the metal framework of the Statue of Liberty, designed by the Alsatian Bartholdi. In June 1884, together with Émile Nouguier, he drew up the first design for the 300-metre pylon that would become the Eiffel Tower, the cladding for which was later designed by the architect Stephen Sauvestre. Hidden behind a screen of trees, the house can be glimpsed through the foliage from the pavement running alongside it.

Located between (2) and (3), the former woollen cloth mill founded in 1812 by Jacques Martin and Jean-Jacques Thyss – which later became the Rogelet mill – borders Rue de la Fabrique on the right bank of the River Lauch. It employed 300 workers as early as 1822, rising to as many as a thousand. On 19 June 1912, the collapse of part of a building there claimed four lives. Its closure in 1935 left more than 1,200 people out of work.

(3) The largest of Buhlo’s replicas of the Eiffel Tower, standing approximately 6 metres tall, overlooks the roundabout at the south-eastern entrance to the village, beside the D430. At its base, an information panel stands alongside a carved wooden caterpillar and a metal insect.

Between (4) and (5), some of the gardens on Rue de la Liberté also feature their own Eiffel Towers, which can be admired from the street as these are private gardens. Further up, past Rue du Réservoir, the pink sandstone wall of the old quarries appears on the right, behind the trees.

Between (5) and (6), on Rue Saint-Michel in Schweighouse, two commemorative paving stones set at the foot of a façade read ‘Here lived’ Charles Galliath, born in 1886, and Mathilde Galliath, née Gerrer, born in 1887. Arrested on 27 October 1943, they were interned at Schirmeck and then deported to Trebnitz and Breslau. Charles was murdered on 3 February 1945 in Neusatz, where Mathilde was liberated. A third cobblestone, at the foot of St Michael’s Church, is dedicated to Émile Weber, born in 1878, arrested in 1944, interned at Schirmeck, deported to Gaggenau and subsequently released. These cobblestones were laid by Gunter Demnig on 13 June 2023.

(6) St Michael’s Church in Schweighouse was built in 1884. Next to it stands the village war memorial, topped by a statue of a warrior in armour, bearing the names of those who lost their lives in both world wars, including Charles Galliath.

(8) At the far end of the Parc de la Vallée neighbourhood, the tall brick chimney and the derelict buildings of the former Ziegler cotton mill rise above the vegetation. Acquired in the late 1840s by Adolphe Astruc, and later expanded to include a weaving mill, the company took the name Marin-Astruc. Its closure, announced in 1963, affected 550 people.

Between (8) and (9), Rue du Colonel Bouvet runs alongside the River Lauch. Behind the car parks, on the right, a small path leads down to the water’s edge.

(9) The Kuppel Mission Cross, dated 1857 according to the accompanying sign, stands atop a shaded hillock from which the view opens out over Buhl and the bell tower of Saint John the Baptist Church.

(10) The Church of Saint John the Baptist, built in the Neo-Romanesque style, was constructed between 1868 and 1899: the nave around 1868–1870, the chancel in 1877–1878, and the bell tower in 1899. The church’s tower rises above its monumental staircase, which is then intersected halfway up by Rue Saint-Pirmin; the staircase continues down a similar number of steps on the other side of the street. It houses the Buhl altarpiece, created in the late 15th or early 16th century and attributed to the circle of Martin Schongauer of Colmar. According to local legend, two men from Buhl, Joseph Amarin Clad and his brother-in-law, found it in 1794 in a square in Colmar, amongst paintings destined for destruction, and acquired it in exchange for a small cask of wine. On the Place de la Fontaine, an old stone washhouse stands in front of the church.

Between (10) and the return to the car park, a plaque reading ‘Ici a vécu’ (‘He lived here’) on Rue de l’Église commemorates Joseph Burghard (1909–1942), who was deported to the Schirmeck camp and fell victim to Nazism. It is one of five plaques installed in Buhl on the houses of deportees, and his name appears amongst the civilian victims of the Second World War on Buhl’s war memorial. A little further on, in Rue Saint-Pirmin, a narrow passageway with white walls and a blue door has a touch of Greece about it, before a lovely view of Buhl opens up on the right.

Villages passed through

• Buhl
• Schweighouse (Lautenbach)