A typical long Alsatian village, a few kilometres south of Altkirch. Just one long street on either side of a stream which gives the village its name and a large church crowned with a stork's nest.

The village is in fact divided into two parts, the lower village, through which runs the stream that gave its name to the commune, and the upper village, nicknamed "the Mountain", where the chapel of Saint Afre, patron saint of prostitutes and repentant girls, is located.

It is in the lower village that the colored half-timbered houses are the most numerous and where the town hall, the Saint Maurice church of 1834 and the Reinach castle, rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century, which is privately owned, are located.

Located halfway between Belfort and Basel but off the main roads, Hirtzbach is a village that you can only discover by strolling along the small roads of southern Alsace.

It is surrounded by a vast forest of some 600 hectares, with numerous ponds and miles of marked paths.

Hirtzbach also boasts of a number of restaurants, where you can enjoy not only the region's speciality, fried carp, but also all the other Alsatian specialities, from tarte flambée (flammekueche, flamed pie) to sauerkraut, washed down with the famous Alsatian wines and local brandies.

Useful links

French Region of Grand Est (iSwitzerland Guide) - Wikipedia