Brunstatt

Brunstatt (French pronunciation: [bʁunʃtat]; Alsatian: Brunscht) is a former commune in the Haut-Rhin department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Brunstatt-Didenheim.^[2]

Brunstatt Brunstatt / Brunscht
Part of Brunstatt-Didenheim
Coat of arms
Location of Brunstatt
Brunstatt Show map of France Brunstatt Show map of Grand Est
Coordinates: 47°43′26″N 7°19′24″E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Haut-Rhin
Arrondissement	Mulhouse
Canton	Brunstatt-Didenheim
Commune	Brunstatt-Didenheim
Area 1	9.66 km2 (3.73 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[1]	6,376
• Density	660/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code	68350
Elevation	240–329 m (787–1,079 ft) (avg. 245 m or 804 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is one of the southern suburbs of the city of Mulhouse, and forms part of the Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, the inter-communal local government body for the Mulhouse conurbation.^[3]

House of Besenval: A Swiss family, well conntected

The arms of alliance of the families de Besenval and Bielińska. The Barony of Brunstatt is represented by the horseshoe in the coat of arms of Jean Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt (1671–1736). The silver doe stands for Riedisheim and the silver mermaid for Didenheim, the two other possessions of the family de Besenval in the Alsace.

The communes of Brunstatt, Didenheim and Riedisheim once belonged to the Swiss patrician family von Besenval or de Besenval as they were called in France. The rich and powerful family from Solothurn had considerable influence in the royal court of France. An impressive example of this is that the King of France erected the de Besenval's possession of Brunstatt into a French barony on 11 August 1726. Hence the family name Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt.^[4]

Pierre Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt

One of the most prominent members of the family was Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service and a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette. The baron received tout-Paris at his residence on the Rue de Grenelle, the Hôtel de Besenval. The hôtel particulier was also the setting for the affair known as: An Incident at the Opera Ball on Mardi Gras in 1778. The Hôtel de Besenval has housed the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation since 1938.^[5][6][7]

See also

• Communes of the Haut-Rhin department