Lièpvre (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. A monastery was built here in the eighth century by Saint Fulrad, who filled it with relics of Saint Cucuphas and Saint Alexander.
Geography
The municipality is nestled in the Liepvrette river valley as the river descends from the main chain of the Vosges into the Col des Bagenelles, a mountain pass in the Vosges. The Liepvrette runs northeast through Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines before reaching Lièpvre. Below Lièpvre, the river runs between the ruins of Frankenbourg castle in the north and the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg in the south then across the municipality of Scherwiller. The Liepvrette then joins the river Giessen (Scheer in former times), which flows from the Val de Villé, before emptying into the river Ill near Sélestat.
The municipality of Lièpvre is bordered by several summits in the Vosges: Brézouard (1229 m), Taennchel (992 m), and High-Koenigsbourg (775 m) to the south; Altenberg (880 m), Chalmont (697 m), Rocher du Coucou (819 m) and Frankenbourg (703 m) to the north. The Altenberg chain separates the Valley of Lièpvre from the Val de Villé. A road built in 1905 allowed access to Rombach-le-Franc, from Lièpvre. This road leads to the hamlet of Hingrie situated from Lièpvre and onto the Col de Fouchy. The village of Liepvre owes its name to the Liepvrette River and its origin to the priory of Lièpvre. Lièpvre is in the center of the valley and sits 275 meters above sea level.
Municipal Boundaries
In 1445 the hamlet of Musloch, between Lièpvre and Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines, was the refuge for farmers of the Valley of Lièpvre who surprised and defeated the Armagnacs near the Rocher des Violons after the Armagnacs invaded Lorraine. Musloch, named after a fifteenth-century mine, was called Museloch in 1517 and Mauslauch in 1782. A mine called St. Anne was opened there in 1545, but was abandoned in 1750 because the cost of exploitation was too high. Musloch was an established hamlet of about thirteen families by the time the mine closed.
History
Hermitage
A monk named Bobolinus settled near Lièpvre where he built a hermitage named Bobolinocella by 774. This hermitage named for Bobolinocella is mentioned in a document from Charlemagne in 774.
A convent was also established in Echéry by a monk named Gorze Blidulphe during the tenth century. The monks were able to develop the priory due to the silver mines they discovered, which became celebrated in the region and in Lorraine.
Foundation of Lièpvre
Lièpvre (Leberau in German, Lebera or Lebraha in Latin) is a large village situated on the Lièpvrette. The village was founded by Fulrad, a future abbot of Saint Denis, whose parents had extensive possessions in Alsace. People from opposite sides of the Rhine met with each other in the valley of Lièpvre. Fulrad was a Carolingian supporter and probably built a convent in this location as a way to access other side of the border. Fulrad was also very close to benefactors of Wissembourg's abbey, which included Fulrad's brother, Boniface. Fulrad had two brothers, Gausbert and Boniface, and a sister named Waldrade. In 770 Fulrad began construction of a priory in Fulradocella, Lièpvre's primitive name. The priory was later named Leberaha.
The monks began to cultivate lands in the valley after the founding of the priory. In 774, Charlemagne approved Lièpvre's founding in a diploma sent from Duren and assures him at the same time of several other properties situated in the royal domain of Kintzheim's with good lands for farming and hunting.
The first road into the valley was constructed in 750 after Fulrad received a license to construct it from Pepin the Short. This road was constructed by serfs from the Saint-Dié (Saint Déodat's) region of the Valley of Galilée. This road passed through Lièpvre into the plain of Alsace. The road no longer exists today, and was replaced in 1761 by another road that passed through to Col de Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.