Wittersdorf walks

A wooded hill separates the Ill and Thalbach valleys. As you walk along it, you will discover an old vineyard, a quarry marked by tragedy, a botanical trail and the story of an unfortunate general. When you reach the Emlingen lime kilns, the 19th century suddenly springs to life, frozen in stone and iron.

On this route through the fields, you will take a small section of the Circuit de la Mémoire (Memorial Trail) with signs recounting the military exploits of the First World War. You will also have the opportunity to walk around the lake, which is impressive in size and pleasant in all seasons, with numerous benches dotted along the route.

Here, you can easily travel through the centuries, from the Britzgyberg oppidum to the German military cemetery in Illfurth. However, as you cross the vast Altenberg massif and the unspoilt village of Luemschwiller, you might think for a moment that you have managed to suspend time.

Hirtzbach is well worth a visit. The castle, English park and opulent residences of Unterdorf are neatly lined up on either side of the stream, whose banks are beautifully flowered in summer. Along the way, a rural and wooded detour leads to the site of the vanished village of Sankt-Glückern and the Landfürstenweyer, the Princes' Pond, with its still waters.

The fighting of the First World War raged in the Sundgau region from August 1914 onwards. The French blew up the Dannemarie viaduct and the front stabilised and extended from the Vosges to the Swiss border. The front line ran a few kilometres from Illfurth, near Heidwiller. During this tour, you will discover several bunkers that served a variety of purposes, including ammunition depots, observation posts and artillery emplacements, as well as several casemates.

Below the Hochistross, the high road from Altkirch to Basel, villages dot the Thalbach valley. The old grain mill in Hundsbach has recently been restored, much to the delight of artists and history lovers.

A hike through the beautiful Sundgau forests dotted with ponds, with no major difficulties except for the walking time. There are many places to stop for a snack along the route.

It is in late February and early March that you should go to meet spring in the forest of Saint-Bernard. This is where the snowdrops appear, signalling the end of winter.

A short hike in the foothills of the Jura to discover the renovated Grand Canyon in Zillisheim, passing by the German cemetery from World War I and the Saint-Brice Chapel in Illfurth.

Passing through the pretty village of Flaxlanden and its Lourdes Grotto, discover a First World War military site in the hills above Zillisheim. Learn a little about nature with the discovery trails along the route and enjoy the many views that await you along the way!

According to Marc Glotz, "The Sundgau has only two Romanesque churches, both founded by the dynasties that shared the region in the Middle Ages: the Habsburgs and the Ferrettes. While Ottmarsheim evokes Carolingian grandeur, Feldbach recalls monastic simplicity. You leave it as if returning from a pilgrimage, with a renewed sense of serenity and the impression of having encountered the fleeting shadows of the counts."

This route invites you to discover the village of Bernwiller and its surroundings, with a quick detour into the forest to sit for a moment in front of the small Notre-Dame de l'Unterholz Chapel and admire it.

For geologists, this part of the Sundgau facing the Porte de Bourgogne is called the Fossé de Dannemarie. The landscape is gently undulating, with only one wooded hill emerging. At its summit stands the church of Gildwiller, where gazes and prayers converge.

Speaking of this part of the Sundgau, André Gide wrote:"One is constantly surprised, as one crosses the forest, to find oneself in the presence of an unsuspected sheet of water, mysteriously asleep in the shelter of the beech forests; rushes adorn narrow sandy beaches at the edge of large fields of water lilies. There are also several reminders of the First World War and the front line that separated Largitzen from Bisel.

A walk to discover Brunstatt and its hills, mostly through fields, with beautiful views of the Vosges mountains.

In warm weather, this is a pleasant walk from the Ill valley to the old bed of the Rhine at the foot of the Jura mountains. The well-marked path offers plenty of opportunities to rest and leads to a strange crypt, the last vestige of a convent destroyed during the Revolution, where the shadow of an exiled poet still lingers.

Along this trail of bunkers, explore fortifications dating back to the First World War, built by the German army. After the fighting in the summer and autumn of 1914, the Haute-Alsace front stabilised on along the line of Cernay-Dannemarie. The commune of Burnhaupt-le-Bas remains on the German side. In December 1914 and January 1915, the French offensive in this sector regularly broke the German lines at the cost of many lives.