Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Wesserling Park, a historic monument, spans 42 hectares in Husseren-Wesserling (High Rhine), in the valley of Saint-Amarin. It juxtaposes Italian terraces, a French-style garden and an English-style garden, labeled "Remarkable Garden" in 2005. Its history is linked to the Alsatian textile industry, with industrial buildings converted into eco-museums, including the Grande Chaufferie, and interactive exhibitions on textile trades (wiremaking, weaving, printing). The site also offers theatre tours and craft demonstrations.

Originally, the estate was a hunting lodge built in 1699 by the prince-abbés of Murbach, transformed into a small Baroque castle in the 18th century. After a fire in 1777, it was rebuilt and became the seat of a Royal Manufacture of Indian women, founded in 1761 by Jean-Mathias Sandherr. In the 19th century, the factory grew with mechanical spinning (including the first of Alsace in 1802, destroyed since then) and housing for workers and managers. The park also houses a neo-Roman Protestant chapel (1854) and employer villas.

The site, acquired in 1986 by the General Council of the Upper Rhine to avoid its fragmentation, now includes a Museum of Textiles and Costumes (installed in 1995 in former workshops), as well as buildings protected by decree of 18 February 1998 and 24 April 2020. The facades, roofs, wrought iron gate and industrial elements (such as the large weaving and its energy system) are listed as historical monuments. The park thus illustrates the evolution of a seigneurial estate into a major industrial pole, while preserving its landscape and architectural heritage.

The architecture of the castle, rebuilt after 1777, features a long, narrow building with a vaulted basement, a central staircase cage with balusters, and 18th century studded ceilings. The damaged interior decorations have lost their original chimneys. Around the castle, industrial buildings (such as the Barette of the early 19th century) and workers' dwellings form a coherent whole, a testament to the social organization of the factory. The closure of the factory by the Boussac group marked the end of its textile activity, paving the way for its heritage development.

The park is today a dynamic cultural place, combining industrial history, contemporary art and pedagogy. Its five gardens, aisles of lime trees and terraces with statues recall the 18th-century developments, while the old textile machines and archives document the golden age of the Alsatian industry. The coexistence of landscape styles (French, Italian, English) and industrial remains makes it a unique site, at the crossroads of natural, architectural and technical heritage.

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