 Haguenau is a Sleeping Beauty dozing at the edge of an immense 14,000 hectare forest which fans out all around the city.
This great patch of green, a sanctuary for calm and beauty in the northern plain, was also the host of many a historical event. In the Middle Ages great imperial hunts took place there.
At that time, the austere village of Haguenau knew how to live.
Founded in the twelfth century around the Hohenstaufen castle, Haguenau quickly won the ranking of Free Imperial City. In the Middle Ages it had the honor of being the second most important Alsatian city, after Strasbourg.
It was deftly run by a liberal government and a successful craft industry provided for its material well-being. Several schools helped maintain the level of intellectual activity.
The printing industry was already flourishing in the late fifteenth century. Ronsard spent some time in Haguenau in 1540.
The destruction of the imperial palace made it possible for Vauban to build Fort-Louis.
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The fortified wall was later laid to ruin and today the city boulevards run over the filled in ditches.Richard the Lion-Hearted, who was held prisoner by Henry IV, appeared before the assembly of princes in this very city.
Several ancient houses remind us of Calvin and Ronsard who stayed in Haguenau in 1540 during a colloquium between Protestants and Catholics, which was attended by the likes of Jean Sturm and Martin Bucer.
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