Lower Alsace (German: Unterelsaß, also spelled Unterelsass; French: Basse-Alsace) was the northern part of the historical region Alsace. From 1871 to 1918, Bezirk Unterelsaß was the name for the central district (Bezirk) of the imperial territory of Alsace–Lorraine in the German Empire.
Administrative and political organization
According to the census 1886[1] the district of Lower Alsace comprised:
The flag is a white bar in a red field decorated on each side with a white lace motif. The union of this flag with that of Oberelsaß forms the flag of modern Alsace.
Annexed municipalities from the neighbor department
The district of Unterelsaß corresponds exactly to the current département of Bas-Rhin, but not to the Alsatian territory before 1870.
Under the terms of a particular agreement[2] that was signed in Berlin July 21, 1871, and in Paris July 31, 1871, 18 municipalities of the Vosges department were integrated into the new imperial district of Lower Alsace, subdistrict of Molsheim, canton of Schirmeck.
In earlier times Rothau, Wildersbach, Waldersbach, Neuvillers belonged to the principality of Ban de la Roche before they joined the département of the Vosges in 1790. The other ones were located in the former Duchy of Lorraine.
The inhabitants of these municipalities didn't and still don't speak any German dialect (Lower Alemannic) such as their neighbors. The linguistic boundary runs between Wisches and Lutzelhouse. The people of the annexed towns speaks a Romance language from the Langues d'oïl, Lorraine family, such as some municipalities in the district of Upper Alsace. This cultural particularity stresses the fact that the annexation of French territories by the German Empire not always referred to the pan-nationalist political idea (Pan-Germanism trying to unite all German-speaking people. When Alsace was recovered by France in 1919 it was decided not to return the 18 annexed municipalities to their former Department(Vosges). Thus in terms of departmental boundaries, the mountain region remains administratively separated from the western portion of the Vosges mountains. Nowadays the inhabitants of the Bruche valley basically identify themselves with Lower Alsatians regardless of their cultural identity.
First German federal elections 1874
The subjects of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine could exercise their right to vote for the deputies[3] at the Reichtstag in Berlin February 1, 1874. Among ten deputies for Alsace, six were catholic clerics and most of the deputies belonged to the French protest party.[4]
Kable, Jacques, director of an insurance company, WK Elsaß-Lothringen 8 (Straßburg), Elsaß-Lothringer
Rack, Achille, Mayor of Benfeld, WK Elsaß-Lothringen 7 (Molsheim, Erstein), Elsaß-Lothringer
Schmitt-Batiston, Alfred, land owner, WK Elsaß-Lothringen 10 (Hagenau, Weißenburg), Elsaß-Lothringer
Schneegans, Carl August, Director of Elsässer Journal, WK Elsaß-Lothringen 11 (Zabern), Elsaß-Lothringer
Fifth German federal elections 1881
The elections for the fifth legislative period (1881-1884) of the Imperial Diet took place October 27, 1881. These are the results of the elections for Lower Alsace:
Hugo Zorn von Bulach, Alsatian deputy
Dietrich, Eugéne de, ironmaster, WK Elsaß-Lothringen 10 (Hagenau, Weißenburg), Elsaß-Lothringer
^Léon Louis et Paul Chevreux, “Département des Vosges », tome II, Res Universis, Paris 1991, ISBN2-87760-644-9, limited edition, number 000384, pages 414
^Léon Louis et Paul Chevreux, “Département des Vosges », tome II, Res Universis, Paris 1991, ISBN2-87760-644-9, limited edition, number 000384, pages 414-417
Georg Hirth (Hrsg.): Deutscher Parlamentsalmanach 13. Ausgabe, September 1878. Leipzig, 1878 (Digitalisat)
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 4. Legislatur-Periode, I. Session 1878. 1. Band, Berlin 1878, S. VII–XXVII (Digitalisat)
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 4. Legislatur-Periode, II. Session 1879. 1. Band, Berlin 1879, S. IX–XXIX (Digitalisat)
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 4. Legislatur-Periode, III. Session 1880. 1. Band, Berlin 1880, S. XXIX–XLIX (Digitalisat)
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 4. Legislatur-Periode, IV. Session 1881. 1. Band, Berlin 1881, S. XXXIII–LIII (Digitalisat)
Georg Hirth (Hrsg.): Deutscher Parlamentsalmanach 14. Ausgabe, November 1881. Leipzig 1881, daten.digitale-sammlungen.de
Stenographische Berichte über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 5. Legislatur-Periode, I. Session 1881. 1. Band. Berlin 1881, reichstagsprotokolle.de
Wilhelm Heinz Schröder: Sozialdemokratische Reichstagsabgeordnete und Reichstagskandidaten 1898–1918. Biographisch-statistisches Handbuch. (= Handbücher zur Geschichte des Parliamentarismus und der politischen Parteien, Band 2). Droste, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN3-7700-5135-1
Bernd Haunfelder: Reichstagsabgeordnete der Deutschen Zentrumspartei 1871–1933. Biographisches Handbuch und historische Photographien. (= Photodokumente zur Geschichte des Parliamentarismus und der politischen Parteien, Band 4). Droste, Düsseldorf 1999, ISBN3-7700-5223-4
Bernd Haunfelder: Die liberalen Abgeordneten des deutschen Reichstags 1871–1918. Ein biographisches Handbuch. Aschendorff, Münster 2004, ISBN3-402-06614-9
Bernd Haunfelder: Die konservativen Abgeordneten des deutschen Reichstags von 1871 bis 1918. Ein biographisches Handbuch. Aschendorff, Münster 2009, ISBN978-3-402-12829-9
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