Travel Guide Lauterbourg

The best way to understand and appreciate the Outre-Forêt natural region, and the Lauterbourg area in particular, is to wander from village to village. You won't find any particularly striking historical or religious buildings, but you will find the charm of a quiet Alsace, with wonderful half-timbered houses brightening up the streets and alleys.Villages include Niederlauterbach, Salmbach and Schleithal, Alsace's longest village. In Hunspach, the windows of some houses feature strange curved panes of glass that allowed you to see in without being seen out. In Ingolsheim, some half-timbered houses form a large star on the first floor, a unique motif. The village of Hoffen boasts an attractive town hall with a beautiful wooden gallery, as well as a number of farmhouses typical of the region. Take a look at the Saint-Joseph church in Leiterswiller: half-timbering, again and again!The geometry and patterns drawn on the wood were not only a response to construction needs and costs, but also had a symbolic connotation.A stopover in Soultz-sous-Forêt, famous for its now-abandoned saltwater spring and vanished castle, is the choir of its 15th-century Protestant church, listed as a Monument Historique. Seven tombstones of members of the Flekenstein family, Alsatian lords, are embedded in the south wall of the choir.