Courcelles (Territoire de Belfort)

Courcelles ( formerly Kurzel German ) is a town in the French department of Territoire de Belfort in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Courcelles is located at 394 m above sea level about six kilometers east of Delle and about 22 kilometers southeast of the town of Belfort ( a straight line ). The village is located in the northern foothills of the Jura Mountains, in the valley of Coeuvatte between the heights of Mont Flori in the West and in the East Mont, near the border with Switzerland.

The area of 5.32 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the undulating countryside in the transition zone between the plains of the Burgundian Gate ( trouée de Belfort ) and the Tabular Jura Ajoie. The central part of the area is traversed in south-north direction from the up to 300 m wide Talniederung the Coeuvatte, which provides for drainage to Allaine. At Courcelles opens from the west the valley of Combe Saint -Urbain. The valley is flanked on both sides by relatively steep slopes that lead over to the adjacent plateau. These are average to 430 m and are mainly consisted of arable and meadow land, partly by forest. To the west, the municipality's area extends to the wooded heights of Mont Flori ( Derrière Notre Dame, to 509 m ) and up to Mont Renaud above Boncourt. East of Coeuvatte valley, the plateau Ragie and the Forest Heights Bois le Sire and Bois Moront located (482 m). In the far east, on the slopes of Mont, is 512 m reaches the highest point of Courcelles.

Neighboring communities of Courcelles are Florimont and Courtelevant in the north, Réchésy the east, and the Swiss towns Damphreux in the south, Lower Allaine the south and west and Boncourt in the West.

History

Is first mentioned Courcelles in 1170; in the 13th century, the name Villa Corcellis is preserved. The place name comes from the Latin words curtis and cella. In the first half of the 14th century the village came under the suzerainty of the Habsburg dynasty. It was part of the reign Florimont since 1311 and formed its own parish.

During the Thirty Years' War, the village was plundered and devastated by Swedish troops. Together with the Sundgau Courcelles came with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia to the French crown. Since 1793, the village belonged to the Department of Haut -Rhin, however, remained in 1871 as part of the Territoire de Belfort as opposed to the rest of Alsace in France.

Attractions

The Church of Sainte -Agathe was rebuilt in 1843. The village is characterized by different Fackwerkhäuser in traditional Alsatian style of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Population

With 130 inhabitants (1 January 2011 ) Courcelles is one of the smallest municipalities of the department of Territoire de Belfort. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century (1886 196 people were still counted ), a population growth was recorded mainly during the 1970s again. Since 1982 is again observed a slight downward trend.

Economy and infrastructure

Courcelles was until well into the 20th century a predominantly by agriculture (crops, orchards and livestock ) and forestry embossed village. Even today, the inhabitants live on the merits of the activity in the first sector. Outside of the primary sector, there are few jobs in the village. Some employed persons are also commuters who engage in the surrounding larger towns of their work.

The village is located off the major road links on a secondary road that leads from Florimont after Damphreux. Further road links exist with Réchésy and Montignez.

Municipality in the department of Territoire de Belfort
Place in Franche -Comté

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