Willgottheim

1682 marked the start of a long period of prosperity and prestige for Willgottheim, following a period of war between Louis XIV and the Emperor of Austria. The French administration opened a Relais de Poste here (two buildings still stand today), where stagecoaches and other mail coaches changed carriages and set off with fresh horses for Saverne or Stutzheim. These relays also ran a hotel business. The buildings of the two relays are still visible: the upper one, the former Auberge Au Pied de B?uf, restored by its owner, and the lower one, the Posthof, with a large porch that is currently being refurbished. Marie Lescinska, daughter of the King of Poland and future Queen of France through her marriage to Louis XV, spent the night of August 1725 at the Relais du Haut (Auberge Au Pied de B?uf). Marie Antoinette, future Queen of France through her marriage to Louis XVI, stayed at the Relais du Bas (we'll mention a few names of postmasters still common in Kochersberg, including Pierre Ott, Michel Lorentz and Auberge du Posthof, owned by Anne-Marie Scherbeck née Lienhart between 1765 and 1768, wife of François Joseph Scherbeck) in 1770. A stone bench commemorates this visit. In the 19th century, Willgottheim became the most important commune in the canton, housing a notary's office, of which all that remains of the old buildings is the turret with its glazed tiles. From this era, the village inherited its nickname: "?s klene Baris" (Little Paris). In the center of the village, the s?Kaisers farm houses an old forge and an exhibition of old tools hanging on the walls of the inner courtyard.