Fouchy

History

The village of Fouchy (Groba) is first documented around 1150, at which time the village was part of the patrimony of the Convent of St Faith in Sélestat. Originally the settlement would have been located in a clearing, supported by a few fields cleared from the surrounding woodlands. Some value would have come to the convent from the economic potential of the woodlands, but the valley had also a considerable strategic importance. Linking Alsace to Lorraine along the route through Villé and Urbeis, the route had commercial significance in that it provided an alternative route for the important trade in salt from nearby deposits in the eastern part of Lorraine. The salt trade otherwise was dependent of the state of Steige Pass, which would have presented challenges during the cold wet weather that is still a frequent feature of the weather in this region. The convent exploited the Fouchy route, charging a toll for merchandise conveyed along it. Until the late Medieval period, the valley, part of a route between Alsace and Lorraine, played an intriguing role as an interface between the two very different worlds of the residual Gallo-Roman heritage on the one hand and the Germanic sphere on the other. This is one reason why lives in the valley have been regularly shaken by crimes and betrayals which have, on occasion, sent their shock waves across Europe. But probably it is only since a little before 1150 that a small group of men came to clear the forest and create a permanent settlement in what, then, they would have called Groba. For the next two hundred years the wealth of Fouchy lands and the surrounding forests offered tempting prizes to local property holders. An example is provided by a legal case which the Convent of St Faith found itself in…

Geography

Located on the left bank of the little River Giessen, Fouchy occupies a site of 787 hectares embraced on one side by the river and faced on its north side by wooded hills culminating in the peaks of the Guichat and Rougerain, respectively 623 meters and 650 meters above sea level. The altitude of the village itself is very varied, but 300 meters is a reasonable average (median) value. The southern part of the village rests on the dividing ridge between the valleys of the Giessen and of the River Liepvrette: this ridge rises from 690 meters in the east to 830 meters at the Schnarupt peak, dominating the hamlet of Hingie in the adjacent commune of Rombach-le-Franc. The ridge is traversed by the 608 meter high Fouchy which connects the two valleys. From outside the village, it is dominated by the spire of the church, and this is the focus from which Fouchy's streets radiate. One route runs to the bottom of the valley, and leads out of the village towards Saint-Dié: scattered farms comprise a few hamlets some of the larger ones being La Combre, Berlicombelle, Noirceux, Rouhu, Schlingoutte, and Schnarupt. To the west, along the departmental road D39, is the village of Urbeis while three kilometers to the east, the same road leads to Villé.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  974
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  931
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  911
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  769
• White Stork

  Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  734
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  592
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  589
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  502

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-06-26
  2 km SE of Hœrdt, France
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany
• M 3.6 — 2009-05-05
  2 km NNW of Steinen, Germany
• M 2.7 — 2008-12-25
  1 km NNW of Blodelsheim, France