Merkwiller-Pechelbronn

Merkwiller-Pechelbronn (German: Merkweiler-Pechelbronn) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Commune
The church in Pechelbronn
Coat of arms
Location of Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Coordinates: 48°56′N 7°50′E
CountryFrance
RegionGrand Est
DepartmentBas-Rhin
ArrondissementHaguenau-Wissembourg
CantonReichshoffen
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) Paul Schiellein
Area
1
3.76 km2 (1.45 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
915
 • Density240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
67290 /67250
Elevation153–199 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.

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

Oil sands were mined from 1745 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn,[2] 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 such as Antar and Schlumberger. The first modern oil sands refinery was built there in 1857; and it also had the first school of oil technology.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. "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" (PDF). New York Times. 23 February 1880.
  3. "History of Pechelbronn oil" Archived 2009-07-25 at the Wayback Machine


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