Merkwiller-Pechelbronn

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Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Coordinates: 48°56′N 7°50′E / 48.94°N 7.83°E / 48.94; 7.83Coordinates: 48°56′N 7°50′E / 48.94°N 7.83°E / 48.94; 7.83
Country France
Region Alsace
Department Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement Wissembourg
Canton Soultz-sous-Forêts
Intercommunality Sauer-Pechelbronn
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) Paul Schiellein
Area
 • Land1 3.76 km2 (1.45 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 • Population2 879
 • Population2 Density 230/km2 (610/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 67290 / 67250
Elevation 153–199 m (502–653 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.

It is notable as the original home of oil sands mining.

Oil sands were mined from 1745 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn,[1] initially under the direction of Louis Pierre Ancillon de la Sablonnière, by special appointment of Louis XV. The Pechelbronn oil field was active until 1970, and was the birthplace of companies like Antar and Schlumberger. The first modern oil sands refinery was built there in 1857; and it also had the first school of oil technology.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The oil wells of Alsace; a discovery made more than a century ago. What a Pennsylvania operator saw abroad--primitive methods of obtaining oil--the process similar to that used in coal mining". New York Times. 23 February 1880. 
  2. ↑ "History of Pechelbronn oil"

External links

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