Châtenois, Bas-Rhin
Châtenois ( German Kestenholz, alsatian Keschtaholz ) is a municipality in the department of Bas- Rhin region of Alsace in France with 4040 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011). It lies at the foot of the Vosges, about three miles west of Sélestat ( Schlettstadt ). Between Sélestat and Châtenois the junction of Autoroute A35 is 17 (L' Alsacienne ).
History
The town's name comes from the chestnut woods around her. Käschte or Keschta are Alemannic chestnuts, Keschtaholz so a chestnut forest. This corresponds to the French name - from Châtaignier ( chestnut).
Châtenois possessed in the Middle Ages and the early modern period by its strategic location a certain military importance. In 1445 the town was sacked by the Armagnacs. Today's population of Châtenois has been compared with the end of the 19th century hardly changed ( 3262 in 1885 ), when in the meantime also, partly because of a fire in 1879, a few hundred inhabitants had declined.