Ribeauvillé

Ribeauvillé (ʁibovile is the French name of Ràppschwihr (Rappoltsweiler), a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. Its inhabitants are called Ribeauvillois. The town is located around north of Colmar and south of Strasbourg. It lies at the base of the Vosges Mountains. Ribeauvillé has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Ribeauvillé is . The average annual rainfall is with August as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Ribeauvillé was on 25 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 20 December 2009. Known in the 8th century as Rathaldovilare, the town passed from the Bishops of Basel to the Lords of Rappoltstein, who were among the most famous nobles in Alsace. The Lord of Rappoltstein was the King or Protector of the wandering minstrels of the land, who purchased his protection by paying him a tax. When the family became extinct in 1673, this office of "King of the Pipers" (Pfeiferkönig) passed to the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. The minstrels had a pilgrimage chapel near Rappoltsweiler, dedicated to their patron saint, Maria von Dusenbach, and here they held an annual feast on 8 September. Ribeauvillé was known as Rappoltsweiler until 1918. Ribeauvillé is in part surrounded by ancient walls, and has many picturesque medieval houses, and two old churches, of St Gregory and St Augustine, both fine Gothic buildings. The town hall contains a valuable collection of antiquities. The Carolabad, a saline spring with a temperature of . (which held a great reputation in the Middle Ages), was re-discovered in 1888, and made Ribeauvillé a spa. Near the town are the ruins of three famous castles, Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre, which formerly belonged to the lords of Ribeaupierre (or Rappoltstein).