Village in bloom

Stotzheim is another village in bloom, with an authentic rural feel and very picturesque, with the river Muhlbach, a diversion of the Andlau river, running through it. The origin of the name of Stotzheim seems to come from the word " storze " which means 'tree stump'. Moreover the village's coat of arms represents three tree trunks with cut-off branches..

Mentioned for the first time in 783, Stotzheim became a possession of the Bishopric of Strasbourg from 1314. The village was looted as early as 1444 by the Armagnacs, then during the Thirty Years War by the Swedish. The church destroyed by fire, was only rebuilt in 1765.

Situated on the plain, Stotzheim has almost 50 farms. This rural town is specialised in tobacco growing and is number two in tobacco production in Alsace.
At the ends of the town there are two castles: the Grünstein (XIIIth century) and the residence of the Andlau family (XVIIIth century)

Twinning Stotzheim - Ortenberg

In 1965 STOTZHEIM and ORTENBERG (www.ortenberg.de) were twinned, the latter being a town in Baden-Wurtemberg with 3000 inInhabitants.
First of all the respective religious communities were twinned, then its scope was widened to the towns themselves, leading to many fruitful exchanges between local associations and schools.
Thanks to the enthusiasm and the communicative skills of the mayors of the twinned towns, the whole populations on both sides of the Rhine have thrown themselves into these exchanges, weaving close friendships over the years. The citizens of the two towns meet on many occasions for various events and the school children meet to learn their neighbours' language. The German elected representatives of the Ortenau-Kreis regularly organise seminars in Stotzheim where the welcome is always warm.
In recognition of the work accomplished in the bringing together of peoples, the mayor of Stotzheim was made an honorary citizen of Ortenberg in 1998.
The year 2000 will see the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the STOTZHEIM - ORTENBERG twinning, living proof of a friendship between two countries and a positive desire to favour the construction of a united Europe.