Lalaye
![]() | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Lalaye | |
---|---|
A general view of Lalaye | |
Coordinates: 48°19′52″N 7°15′55″E / 48.3311°N 7.2653°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Grand Est |
Department | Bas-Rhin |
Arrondissement | Sélestat-Erstein |
Canton | Mutzig |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Yvette Walspurger[1] |
Area 1 | 8.18 km2 (3.16 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 487 |
• Density | 60/km2 (150/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 67255 /67220 |
Elevation | 297–822 m (974–2,697 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Lalaye (French pronunciation: [lalɛ]; German: Lach) is a commune in the southwest of the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.[3]
The inhabitants are known as Lachenois.
Geography
Lalaye is positioned approximately fifteen kilometres (nine miles) to the west-north-west of
The village itself is positioned at the lower end of the valley, having an average elevation of just 310 meters, shortly before the Charbes stream and the Urbeis Giessen converge. The houses are stretched along the south facing side of the narrow Charbes valley.
Mining
The commune contains significant mineral deposits and has a long
Seams of antimony at Wolfsloch were mined during the same period, for a century between 1648 and 1748. More important was the coal mining, which provided high quality coal, principally used in forges. After lapsing for several years, mining returned to the village during the German occupation in 1901. Other mines, some better documented than others, include those at Sachelingoutte (sixteenth century), Pransureux, Le Beheu and Ruisseau.
An old
History
Etymology
The name Lalaye comes from the German and local dialect name "Lach" and from the Latinate patois equivalent "Lela". A range of spelling variants turns up through the centuries. The Germanic name "Lach" is recorded in 1303 and again in 1561. Following the French occupation of Alsace, francophone versions gain currency: La Ley in 1768, Lallay on Cassini's eighteenth century maps, Lalay in 1758 and finally Lalaye. As in the rest of Alsace, periods of German occupation between 1871 and 1918, and again between 1940 and 1944, saw a return to German versions of the name.
Origins as part of the Villé seigniory
The precise age of the village is not known. The first surviving record of it appears in an inventory compiled in 1303 by a notary named Burkhard von Fricke who was working for the powerful
The Thirty Years' War
Lalaye was one of many Alsatian villages ruined by the
Religious
The
In 1777 the old chapel was demolished and work began on a church, planned by the architect Christiani and which would be built on the same spot. The church was far larger than the chapel it replaced, which had become necessary because of immigration to the village during the eighteenth century. Between 1720 and 1750 the size of the registered congregation increased from about twenty souls to about fifty. In 1803 a vicar was assigned to Lalaye-Charbes, and from 1810 he was able to reside in a newly constructed presbytery. Lalaye obtained parish status in 1820.
Emigration
From the nineteenth century Lalaye experienced a major population exodus, primarily due to a lack of work in the valley. Some residents migrated to cities such as Paris while others crossed the Atlantic to the United States or, like the missionary Jean Gaire, to Canada. Often early emigrants were joined subsequently by others from the commune.
Schools
Two schools were constructed during the nineteenth century: one at Charbes in 1832 and the other at Lalaye in 1860.
Twentieth century
The village was relatively lightly touched by the two great wars of the twentieth century. During the
People
- Jean Gaire 1853 - 1925, missionary to the Canadians, was born in Lalaye.
See also
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ INSEE commune file
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)