User:Bioarchie1234/Translations/Benfeld

Benfeld
Benfeld
	Benfeld
	Coordinates: 48°22′17″N 7°35′35″E / 48.371389°N 7.593056°E
Country	France
Arrondissement	Sélestat-Erstein
Canton	Benfeld; (chef-lieu)
Government
• Mayor (2001-2008)	Robert Lustig
Population	4,878
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	67028 /

Benfeld is a French commune, situated in the Bas-Rhin and in the région of Alsace. It makes up one of the centres of employment between Sélestat and Strasbourg, situated further north.

Geography edit

History edit

Benfeld is situated near to the ancient Gallo-Roman town Helvetus (Ehl), destroyed by the Vandals in January 407. The stones were re-used to build the town.

The first rampart was constructed in the 14^th century.

During the Thirty Years War, Benfeld was defended by its residents and Louis Zorn von Bulach. For sixty-six days, Benfeld held out against a Swedish siege. After the surrender of the town, the Swedish occupied Benfeld from the 9^th of November, 1632, until 1650, when they destroyed the fortifications.

Coat of arms edit

The coat of arms is an azure shield with a band of argent running from top-left to bottom-right. This band has three stars of the heraldic colour gules.

Administration edit

{{ÉluDébut |Titre= Liste des maires successifs}} {{Élu |Début= |Fin= mars 2001 |Identité= Roland Brendlé |Parti=[[Union pour la démocratie française|UDF]]|Qualité= }} {{Élu |Début= mars 2001 |Fin= mars 2002 |Identité= Marc Wilhelm |Parti=|Qualité= }} {{Élu |Début= mars 2002 |Fin= |Identité= Robert Lustig |Parti=Divers Droite|Qualité= }} {{ÉluDonnées}} {{end}}

Demography edit

Historical population of User:Bioarchie1234/Translations/Benfeld
Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
Population	3,433	3,441	3,798	4,451	4,330	4,878

Places and monuments edit

The town's hotel dates back to 1531. The tower beside it, including its the clock and clockwork people, has been there since 1619.

The church of Saint Laurent is one of the oldest episcopal churches attested (762); the Merovingian sarcophagi date back to the original church, which was discovered under the foundations of the present one. The church was repaired in 1754, the Gothic chancel was conserved and the nave was reconstructed in 1840 in the neoclassical style. The church houses, amongst other things, late 19^th century baptismal fonts from the convent of Ehl.

Industry edit

Socomec, an enterprise specialising in uninterruptible power supplies and electrical cabinets have their head office and a factory in Benfeld. The laboratories of PCB Création are specialists in producing food decorations.

SECOME SAS invent and produce means of producing sheet metal; ADEcut, its sister company, uses these means (presses et c.) to produce metal parts.

Famous people linked with the commune edit

François-Xavier Gsell was born in Benfeld on the 30^th of October, 1872. He died in Sydney, on the 12^th of July, 1960. Missionary of the Sacred Heart in Australia, he was, in 1938, the first bishop of Darwin.