Dossenheim-Kochersberg lies on a hill and can be reached via three small, winding roads. These follow the routes of former rural paths, so the village’s location and access routes help shape its character. The village’s history includes its church, religious heritage and traces of its former agricultural life; half-timbered farmhouses add to the character of the village centre.

The Church and Its History

The present-day church of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul was built in 1781. It is a rural 18th-century building with Neoclassical furnishings. A cube-shaped sundial with cherubs from Strasbourg Cathedral is set on a Gothic spire. In good weather, a pointer on each of its four sides shows solar time by means of its shadow.

The baptismal font ensemble also brings together several periods: it contains elements from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, while its central section bears the date 1823. Dossenheim was once the mother parish, to which Wiwersheim, Quatzenheim, Offenheim and Kleinfrankenheim, among other places, belonged. A gravestone from 1629 on the church wall commemorates Jean Schwartz, rector of Dossenheim and these other places.

The presbytery near the church is a bourgeois building with a rectangular floor plan and a symmetrical layout. It is considered a typical example of 18th-century presbyteries. The history of the village thus brings together church furnishings and architecture with Dossenheim’s former role as a mother parish.

Traces in the Village Landscape

The former dairy, s’Mellichhiesel, remains unchanged. At the same time, village agriculture has changed fundamentally: livestock farming, and with it milk production, has disappeared completely from the village. Several fine 18th- and 19th-century half-timbered farmhouses stand in the village centre.

Among the old roadside crosses are a cross from 1621 at the village exit towards Kleinfrankenheim, which served as a station during the Rogation procession, and another from 1623 at the foot of the ’s Peters farm. The latter has been incorporated into private property. A cross erected in 1709 stands in front of the presbytery-town hall. The three crosses therefore differ both in their locations and in their recorded associations.

An archaeological find also forms part of the village’s history: a Roman station was discovered in the area known by the field name Auf dem Waschweg. Together with the dated crosses and buildings, this find offers a different perspective on the history of Dossenheim-Kochersberg, looking further back in time than its more recent village and church history.

Traditions and Routes

The ACLD has revived the old Witz’Owe tradition: an evening held every two years featuring jokes in Alsatian, bringing together 150 speakers of the dialect. If you are planning a trip around this event, check the specific event date before making plans.

Another event organised by the ACLD combines exercise and a shared meal. The hiking day ends with an authentic Erbsesupp, enjoyed by the hikers together with older residents of the village. The soup is therefore part of the hiking day’s finale.

For cycling, an intermunicipal cycle-route plan lists Dossenheim-Kochersberg among the places on the identified cycle network. The accompanying map is dated December 2009. It indicates when the plan was drawn up and should be distinguished from current route planning.

The Trail du Kochersberg runs for two kilometres through fields on its way to Dossenheim, partly along wide farm tracks and partly along a short paved section. The event route may change in future editions. If you are planning a trip for a particular edition, check the route for that event.

Discover more destinations: Griesheim-Près-Molsheim, Hindisheim, Soultz-Les-Bains, Strasbourg, Erstein, Reinhardsmunster, Saales, Osthoffen.

Go to the broader travel overview: Bas-Rhin.