Altkirch

Subprefecture and commune in Grand Est, France

Altkirch Àltkìrech (Alemannic German)
Subprefecture and commune
The historic centre of Altkirch
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Altkirch
(2020–2026)		Nicolas Jander^[1]
Area ¹	9.54 km² (3.68 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	5,608
• Density	590/km² (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	68004 /68130
Dialling codes	0389
Elevation	274–392 m (899–1,286 ft) (avg. 310 m or 1,020 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Altkirch (French: [altkiʁʃ] ^ⓘ, German: [ˈaltkɪʁç]; Alsatian: Àltkìrech) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.^[3]

The town is traditionally regarded as the capital of Sundgau.

Etymology

The name of the commune means old church (Alsatian: Àlta Kìrch or Àlta Kìrech; German: Alte Kirche).

History

In the 1370s, the citizens of Altkirch made battle and won against a company of Gugler mercenaries.^[4]

Demography

Its inhabitants are known as Altkirchois.

The resident population number of 5500 is rather deceptive as some 15,500 people will be in town on a typical working day (4500 working, 3000 studying, 3000 for medical treatment and another 5000 divided between shopping, administrative offices, cultural and sporting activities).

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	5,118	—
1975	5,319	+0.55%
1982	5,268	−0.14%
1990	5,090	−0.43%
1999	5,386	+0.63%
2007	5,644	+0.59%
2012	5,747	+0.36%
2017	5,737	−0.03%
Source: INSEE^[5]

Sister cities

Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) Füzuli (2016)

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file
^ Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim (1978). A distant mirror : the calamitous 14th century. Internet Archive. New York : Knopf. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-394-40026-6.
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Altkirch.

Altkirch and Sundgau Community (in French)
Weather in Haut-Rhin (in French)
Photographic visit to Altkirch Archived 2015-04-22 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
Rhenish centre for Contemporary Art (in French)