Last modified: 2021-04-24 by ivan sache
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Flag of Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 19 October 2020
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The municipality of Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine (3,003 inhabitants in 2018; 2,577 ha; Colmar.
Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine originates from a women's abbey, founded between 1006 and 1035 by Count Hugo IV of Eguisheim and his wife Heilwige of Dabo to the south of their
stronghold, the now extinct village of Woffenheim. In 1049, his son, Bruno, who became Pope Leo IX, consecrated the first abbess and donated relics of the Holy Cross (hence the village's name).
When child, Bruno was poisoned by a venomous toad; he was miraculously saved from death, an event most probably rewarded by the foundation of the convent.
Leo IX, after having consecrating the church and appointed Abbess Kuenza, offered to the abbey his stole and liturgical clothes made of red velvet, a banner and a caliche. Most important, he offered three relics of the Holy Cross set in a crucifix shape, which are still kept in the parish church's treasure.
As a reward for the privileges granted to the abbey, Leo IX required the yearly donation of a golden rose weighing two ounces (54.50 g) to the Holy See, as prescribed in a charter dated 18 November 1049. Since then, the pope has been blessing the Golden Rose on Laetare Sunday.
In 1230-1250, the convent and the village that had developed nearby were surrounded by walls and ditches, probably upon request by Berthold de Teck, Bishop of Strasbourg. In 1250, the village was granted the status of fortified town, as Oppidum Sanctae Crucis. Located on the road connecting Colmar to Basel, the village was fiercely disputed in the 13th-14th centuries by the bishop of Strasbourg and the bishop of Basel.
The three neighboring villages of Woffenheim, Dinzheim and Bleinschweiller were subsequently destroyed, leaving only Sainte-Croix.
Sainte-Croix peaked in the 16th century, organizing famous fairs during which the relics were exhibited.
On 24 December 1813, Napoleon's Dragoon Regiment commanded by General Milhaud fought Speckler's Hussars and Elmorsin's Cossack. Injured, an officer of the allied forces took shelter in a house in the village. A few days later, the postmaster shot another officer riding ahead his squadron and hid in the church's bell-tower. Locked in the church, the inhabitants were about to be burned down when the injured officer showed up and asked them to be pardoned because he had been saved by a villager.
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 23 October 2020
The flag of Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine (photo, photo) is white with the municipal coat of arms, "Azure a cross bottony fitchy argent superimposed by two croziers or with staffs argent affrontant in saltire".
The modern arms of Sainte-Croix were granted on 19 July 1825, with the croziers affronty.
The arms were first granted on 27 December 1697, as registered in the Armorial Général on 27 December 1697, with the croziers addorsy (image). The design was based on earlier representations featured in Hans Schaedelin's book of income (middle 15th century) and on the cover of the Umgelt book (1537). The arms are also represented on borderstones dated 1547 and seals used in the 16th century.
[Armorial des communes du Haut-Rhin]
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 23 October 2020