Phaffans

Phaffans is a common French, located in the department of the Territoire of Belfort and the area Franche-Comté.

Longitude: 06° 56 ' Is
Latitude: 47° 40 ' North

History

In 792, time of Charlemagne, the Abbaye of Murbach acquires by way of exchange of the fields in the pagus (village) of Phaffans, then consisted of huts and thatched cottages, and the walk of Roppe.

A local tradition allots the foundation of the village to a lord of Rougemont-the-Castle. Being mislaid during one day of hunting in the dark thickness of the forest which covered all the area then, it had its safety with a source to which came to water the wild animals. This source always exists at the village and is called “Tierbrunn”, fountain of the animals. (at that time, the spoken language in the country was a patois derived from high-German).

To thank Providence, the lord then made set up a vault near this source, which with the time and the establishment of the populations, became the place of worship of the inhabitants of the surroundings. The vault made place thereafter with a church built between 1700 and 1728 which still constitutes the center of the parish of six villages: Phaffans, Denney, Roppe, Eguenigue, Menoncourt and Lacollonge. Today, these villages gathered in an intercommunity association of Baroche (of Latin “Parochia”, parish).

The presbytery, built in 1701 per Jacques Moureau, had a certain importance because it was occupied of 1770 with 1798 by Marc-Antoine Berdolet, become then bishop of the Haut-Rhin then of Aachen. The origin of the name of Phaffans is to be attached rather to its German name Pfeffingen (of a name of Germanic man Pafo or Fafo and Germanic suffix - ing) than of German " Pfaff-" (priest) and of " Haus" (house). For its wealth of Architecture crowned, retable of 17th, statues, organ case and organ signed by the famous organ builder Verschneider, the church of the Assumption is registered with the additional inventory of the Historic buildings.

Located in the middle same of the door of Burgundy and Alsace, the village suffered during the centuries from the successive passages from belligerents from any nature. The most fatal passage was that of the Austrian troops in 1815 which burned sixty houses on sixty-four that the village counted.

During the war of 1870, balls of guns seriously damaged the bell-tower of the church which still carries badly closed again scars. During the seat, the bell-tower which was used then as observatory to the Prussians, was then the target of the French guns.

Economy

The village, of primarily agricultural tradition also counted an iron mine, a foundry of bells and several water mills along the Autruche, a large brook which takes its source in the north of Roppe.

Today, not counting more that three farms (against 18 in 1940), Phaffans became a small residential borough.

Phaffans adheres to the Communauté communes of the Lime since its creation in 1997.

See also: Common of the Territory of Belfort

See too

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