Olwisheim
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Olwisheim is a street village. The site of the municipality of Olwisheim is of relatively old occupation, at least since the Roman period. The nearby town of Brumath, about 7 km away, was a Roman military centre known as Brotomagus. The municipality of Olwisheim is the theatre of the survival of an ancient Alsatian tradition, the Maie or Maiestecke, also known as "Les Arbres de Mai". This tradition is carried out as follows: every year in May, on the eve of Ascension Thursday, the young people of the village (only single men over fourteen years old) gather in the central square of the village (Place des Tilleuls). Their mission is as follows: to discreetly place a tree in front of certain houses at night; those where single girls over the age of fourteen live. The pavement is generally covered with straw. Every year, on the evening of 13 July, the municipality of Olwisheim celebrates the taking of the Bastille. The Mayor's speech opened the evening, punctuated musically by the local choir. An annual opportunity for common celebration, this evening of July 13th usually takes place in the village's central square. Traditionally, we distribute Wecke on July 14 (a traditional Viennese pastry, a kind of brioche man).
