Grassendorf
Encyclopedia
Grassendorf is a commune
in the Bas-Rhin
department in Alsace
in north-eastern France
.
during the middle of the seventeenth century.
In the local language
the inhabitants of Grassendorf are known as "Welschguller" which means something along the lines of "foreign turkeys". Until the 1990s the spire of the parish church was topped off by the carving of a turkey
rather than of the Gallic rooster
which is more normally found on the tops of church spires in rural France.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
department in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
in north-eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
Following the Thirty Years War which badly depleted population levels in much of Alsace, a large number of immigrants arrived from the Thiérache region of PicardyPicardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
during the middle of the seventeenth century.
In the local language
Alsatian language
Alsatian is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region in eastern France which has passed between French and German control many times.-Language family:...
the inhabitants of Grassendorf are known as "Welschguller" which means something along the lines of "foreign turkeys". Until the 1990s the spire of the parish church was topped off by the carving of a turkey
Turkey (bird)
A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...
rather than of the Gallic rooster
Gallic rooster
The Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France as a nation .-France:...
which is more normally found on the tops of church spires in rural France.