We did our own walking excursion to Breisach. All to go to the ‘champagne’ cellar. No tours, but we were at least able to do a tasting.
The history of Breisach reaches back over 4000 years. The Münsterberg (Minster Hill) was the seat of a Celtic principality then a Roman castle and, since the early Middle Ages, was the centre of the up-and-coming city with its market rights and right of coinage, with formidable city defences, of which some wall and a few gates are still visible, and which provided a home for many monasteries.
The city’s prosperity over many centuries, and its importance as a traffic hub and trading city, is due to its location on the Rhine, and the bridge across this river. In the 17th and 18th centuries Breisach, under Habsburg and French sovereignty, was one of Europe’s most important and strongest fortified cities.
The fortifications were razed in the mid-18th century, and the city itself was almost completely destroyed by French bombardment in 1793. 85% of Breisach was destroyed again at the end of the Second World War in 1945. In 1950, surrounded by rebuilding work, this was the first city whose citizens expressed their wish for the formation of a united Europe
