Things to do in Rouffach: monuments, vineyards and the Grand Ballon

Rouffach is a small wine town in the Haut-Rhin, on the Alsace Wine Route. It was the capital of the Haut-Mundat, a territory under the authority of a seigneurial bailiff, and its old centre keeps the trace of that. The main monuments fit within a small perimeter around Place de la République: the church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, the former corn hall, the former town hall and the Witches’ Tower. A walk therefore covers the essentials, with no need to get back in the car between stops.

The tourist office of the Pays d’Eguisheim et de Rouffach is at 12A place de la République. There you pick up the leaflets for the Ramparts circuit, which describes the route through the historic centre, along with brochures, guides and vineyard maps. Guided visits of the Ramparts circuit are organised in summer. The rest of the year the route is walked alone, leaflet in hand. Staff advise in French, German and English.

The church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption dominates the square. Its construction spans the 11th to the 19th century, which explains its Romanesque and Gothic character. The Romanesque transepts go back to the 11th century, the Gothic nave to the 13th, and the chancel is polygonal. The towers date from the 19th century. Inside, the stained glass was installed around 1899 and the organ dates from 1855. It is the visual landmark of the centre: you find it again from most streets and from the heights of the vineyards.

The Witches’ Tower is the last surviving tower of the town’s fortifications. Its round base dates from the 13th century, its square storeys from the 14th and 15th. It served as a prison and today carries a stork nest. A few steps away, the Récollets church was built between 1280 and 1300 and dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria: it keeps an outdoor pulpit, a funerary chapel of 1606 and a geocentric sundial of 1617. The former town hall completes the set, with a right wing of the 15th century remodelled in 1721 and a left wing of 1581 by Franz Baur.

The Bailliage museum occupies the first floor of the former corn hall, 6bis place de la République. The building dates from the 16th century and was listed as a historic monument in 1921. It first served as a store and centre of the grain trade, then housed the boys’ school from 1819 to 1960. The outdoor stone stairway, with two converging flights, was added in 1924: it gives the façade its recognisable silhouette from the square.

The museum presents the treasures of the former capital of the Haut-Mundat and of the villages of its bailiwick. The collections gather mainly archaeological remains, from prehistory to the 19th century. The most notable set brings together Roman objects unearthed in the 1970s and 1980s: wall paintings, mosaics, amphorae, pottery, everyday objects, bath installations and a bronze stylus engraved with a Latin inscription. To these are added statues from religious buildings and the Jacquemart, a 15th-century automaton.

Rouffach’s winegrowing tradition goes back more than thirteen centuries. The vineyards benefit from a warm, dry climate and well exposed limestone slopes. You find all the Alsatian grape varieties under protected designation, the Côte de Rouffach appellation, Crémants d’Alsace and the Grand Cru Vorbourg. Practices have changed a great deal: integrated production since the 1990s, organic farming, biodynamics, grassing of the plots and natural pest management. The town’s wines are known for their balance between power and finesse of fruit aromas.

The Grand Cru Vorbourg walk climbs into the vines above the town. The trail opens a panorama to the south, over the Black Forest, and over the Alps in clear weather. Above all it gives perspective on Rouffach: from the heights you read at a glance the town’s medieval landmarks, the church, the Récollets and the Witches’ Tower. It is the most direct way to understand how the town settled between the plain and the first slopes of the massif.

The Lauch walk covers 9.5 km, about three hours. It starts from the car-share area and follows the river. Twelve interpretation panels line the route and explain the natural and historical heritage of the Lauch and its surroundings. It is a lowland route, without difficulty, well suited to a restful half day between two visits. It complements the Vorbourg trail, shorter but markedly steeper.

Another, quieter option: the hospital grounds, a botanical walk of 23 hectares. There are 1,100 trees, 255 conifers and 890 flowering shrubs, including 25 rare species. Finally, a geocaching circuit called Rouffach, cité de la Renaissance covers 1 km in about 45 minutes, under the code GC50GBJ: a good way to walk the historic centre as a family without the visit feeling like a history lesson.

Two markets are held on Place Eole. The weekly market takes place on Saturday and gathers the town’s everyday food offer. The organic market is on Wednesday and gives access to local producers selling direct. These are the two fixtures to note on arrival if you cook where you stay: they save you depending on the out-of-town supermarkets and give access to what grows locally.

The town also lists its producers in four families: wines, farm produce, other producers and markets. That list is kept on the municipal website and remains the most reliable starting point for buying at source. On the wine side, the cellars of Rouffach work the Côte de Rouffach, the Grand Cru Vorbourg and Crémant d’Alsace: three different ways into the same limestone terroir.

The Écomusée d’Alsace is at Ungersheim, in the Haut-Rhin. It is an open-air museum that preserves buildings dismantled in their home village and re-erected on site: half-timbered houses, workshops, outbuildings. To these are added everyday objects, furniture and tools tied to craft and farming. The whole documents Alsatian rural life from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The visit is free-flowing or in guided groups, with demonstrations of skills and events that change with the seasons and the festivals. Animals live on the site.

The Grand Ballon, in the commune of Soultz, rises to 1,424 metres: it is the highest summit of the Vosges massif, also called the Ballon de Guebwiller. At the top stand the Blue Devils monument, raised by the Club alpin français and the Club Vosgien in tribute to the fallen of the First World War mountain infantry battalions, and a civil aviation radar installed in 1997, designed by the architect Claude Vasconi. An orientation table is accessible under the radome. Summer access is via Guebwiller, Wattwiller or Willer-sur-Thur.