Bollenberg - History and legend

Westhalten

During the Celtic epoch, the date of the religious fetes was established according to the position of the sun. The Bollenberg and the sun are aligned on February, the 2nd, which is the day of Candlemas and the Celtic fete Imbolc.
Afterwards the Romans came. A Gallo-Roman villa was discovered in the vineyard.
A church was built in the 6th and the 7th century and consecrated to Saint Martin. It was used by the parish from Bergholtz, Orschwihr, Soultzmatt, Westhalten, Rouffach, Pfaffenheim and Gundolsheim. After the 12th century, this church was deserted. Only Orschwihr kept the church as its parish church until 1550. In 1838 the church was destroyed.

On the hill over Orschwihr, there is a chapel consecrated to “Sainte Croix”. The Bollenberg is also an antique meeting place for the witches, which was mentioned in many witchcraft proceedings in Rouffach. In the night between the 14th and the 15th August, the chapel (called the witches chapel) is illuminated by the well-known Haxafir (witches fire). Young people from Orschwihr burn a witch on the stake. The place is also bound with many legends.