Melsheim

Melsheim is a village that was probably founded by the Celts. In 975 the village was called MELLESHEIM. The village kept this name until the end of the 11th century. Subsequently, the name MEHLSHEIM was adopted, possibly derived from MANDALO, a Germanic first name which is represented in the region as MALO or MEHL, to which the suffix HEIM is added.
This hypothesis may be considered accurate, as we know that there was a family of millers in the village at this time. It would appear that Melsheim was originally an imperial possession. As early as 1077, the German Emperor Henry IV endowed the Abbey of Seltz with land. The village then passed for a time into the hands of the Falkensteins, who sold their property and rights to the Lichtenbergs in 1342. In 1392, the Falkensteins sold their last holdings in Melsheim to the Haguenau Hospital.
The village and the vast majority of the land remained in the possession of the Lichtenbergs and then their descendants, the Hanau-Lichtenbergs, whose capital was Bouxwiller from 1480. The Hanau-Lichtenbergs introduced the Reformation to Melsheim in 1545. No comments, accounts or archives have been able to tell us what happened in the village between 1750 and the 19th century.
The village covers an area of 520 hectares.